Murals, Barrio 20 de Julio, Medellin, Colombia

November 2015

From the person who told me about this:

"With a Google picture search on Comuna 13, you more or less catch the essence of the place. It used to be the most dangerous part of the city, and as late as ten years ago, it was controlled by paramilitary gangs and guerrillas. With the Operation Orion, the government regained control, but the operation also caused hundreds, maybe thousands, of lives and, not to mention, "missing people". They still find mass graves from this period.
The last ten years it has been transformed dramatically to the better - and they have been offering activities for youth to get them away from criminality. The result has been a very colorful sector with painted houses and street art.

Comuna 13 is a big area. When you get to the metro station "San Javier", you can take the metro cable for the view of the city. The area with most art is in another part of Comuna 13, by the "Escalas eléctricas". To get there you can take a very short bus ride from the metro station (some minutes) to Barrio 20 de Julio or walk for 30 minutes."