Written by Helen Guevara | September 12, 2024 | SHARE
Lehigh student discusses how visiting Valparaiso during Lehigh Launch Chile revealed graffiti to be a powerful and vibrant form of expression
Lehigh Launch is an experiential, integrative learning experience for first-year Lehigh University students, being offered in Chile for the first time this year. Faculty advisor Hugo Ceron-Anaya, associate professor of sociology, asked participating students to prepare chronicles about their experiences in Chile, which Global Lehigh will share throughout the semester. Below is a chronicle by Helen Guevara '28.
When someone thinks about an area full of graffiti, one of the first things they might think is, “Oh, that area must be very dangerous.” At least this was my first thought when I was told my class would be going to Valparaiso, a city full of graffiti. Coming from New York City, graffiti often carries a negative connotation and is typically used as a way for gangs to mark their territory. This was how I imagined Valparaiso to be like.
Before departure, I did some research, learning that the graffiti seen in this city has so much history. Valparaiso was once prosperous due to European ships stopping here before continuing their journey around the Americas. However, due to the construction of the Panama Canal shortening Europe's journey to reach the USA, the city was no longer wealthy or thriving.
Holding onto their prosperity only became more difficult under the Pinochet regime. Citizens of Valparaiso used graffiti introduced by Pablo Neruda—a famous poet who would win a Nobel prize in 1971 and later die in 1973—to protest against this regime. Graffiti was an outlet to express their beliefs, despite being banned along with other acts of protest by Pinochet. Valparaiso is now one of the only cities where graffiti is legal—freely preserving the citizen’s ability to use art as a way of expressing beliefs and bringing the community together.
The drive from Santiago to Valparaiso was an hour and a half. As we passed through different cities differences could be seen between them, the key one being they were less urban compared to Santiago. This observation, however, is especially apparent considering Santiago populates around 7 million people. Once we arrived in Valparaiso one of the first things I noticed was how busy it was— teeming with street vendors, families, and traffic. Our first stop was the port, where we went on a boat tour to learn more about Valparaiso’s history. Before we got on the boat we all went to the bathroom quickly, learning that in Chile you have to pay to use any public bathrooms. This was something I had never seen in the U.S. or Honduras (a country I visit often).
The view of Valparaiso from the ocean was beautiful, the colorful houses on top of the mountains reminded me of pictures I had seen of Italy. We learned about how the port works and were told that there are around 20 workers who disembark a ship. This is because they have developed a system so efficient it takes them less than a week to empty and reload a ship. Learning this made me think back to the research I had done before our trip and see that Valparaiso was now, once again, a prosperous city. One of the last things we saw on our tour was naval ships, learning that Valparaiso is a naval base. I had never seen one up close before. The ships were huge, completely different from regular ships, easy to tell that they were greatly equipped to withstand any attack on it. To me, it looked like a military base or even a highly secured prison.
Seeing the view of Valparaiso from the mountains was even more gorgeous. As we walked up the mountain, gaining great practice for all the walking I’d be doing at Lehigh to get my Lehigh calves, I was amazed. I was able to see all the buildings more closely and take in their beautiful colors and structure. Besides that, I could see all the greenery coming from all the trees and plants, making me want to come again in the summer to see its full beauty. And of course, we can’t forget about the beautiful view of Las Cordilleras that always follows you like the moon no matter where you are in Chile. As we continued walking through the city I finally got to see what I had read about graffiti and understand the immense impact it has on the culture in Valparaiso.
There were many murals that to me seemed like they were expressing the right to be different and to be yourself freely. My personal favorites were the graffiti writing that advocated the need to change, a fight that will never stop, and telling people to let their curiosity run wild. Besides the art conveying positive messages, there were many fun and interesting murals to look at and admire, also seeing the creativity of the people in Valparaiso. Overall, I loved Valparaiso and all it has to offer making it one of the cities I highly recommend others to visit, and a city I have to visit again before my semester ends.
Below are links to other Lehigh Launch Chile student chronicles: