The word "graffiti" comes from the Italian and French word graffio, which translates to "a scratching." Graffiti must be understood as the public literary expression of its protagonists -- everyone from teenagers casually adding a 'tag' to a wall or window to intergenerational families of commited street artists. One example of the latter is Rodez, in some ways regarded as the 'grandfather of graffiti' in Bogota. The vast majority of recognized local graffiti artists have taken classes with Rodez, and his son and grandson have also become recognized in the local creative graffiti scene.
These images are from a tour offered by the brilliant Ray, who can be found on the Facebook group 'Culture Shock Colombia,' or on Carrera 3 #11-24 in his shop DIBS. See also bogotagraffiti.com.
Contemporary graffiti reflects deeply localized discourses and concerns, but also in a globalized context. Some of these images emerge from politicized exposure of the injustices of Plan Colombia, agribusiness and the horrifying birth defects of some of the coca-crop-dusting chemicals, and the intensified militarization of transnational capitalist consumption. Other images reflect the dignity and survival of indigenous histories, memories, and present lives. Others celebrate the diversified spirits of animal lives in the world's second-ranked environment of biodiversity (behind only Brazil).