By Enrique Mandujano
LIMA (Reuters) – Rainbow colours are splashed across small houses in a once grey neighbourhood of Peru’s capital city, creating the optical illusion of a giant mural across San Cristobal hill which can be seen from various vantage points across Lima.
The project in Lima’s Leticia neighborhood started five months ago and is being headed by muralists Carla Magan and Daniel Manrique. The effort aims to improve the lives of those in the COVID-hit community and promoting tourism.
“This hill was considered an unsafe area in the city. It was said that this neighbourhood was dangerous,” said Manrique. “We decided to change that social stigma through art.”
Bright paintings adorn many buildings in the neigbourhood and workers are busy daubing steps and stone walls in cheerful hues of yellow and orange. Sitting on San Cristobal hill, the artwork covers over 300,000 square meters (74 acres).
The ambitious project has the backing of Lima’s municipal authority and a local painting company Qroma, with residents helping to paint the buildings and to bring the massive mural to life.
“It has been our response as neighbours, residents and artists to try and generate a change in our neighbourhood through the energy of colour,” said Magan.
“To improve the mood of our entire population still affected by COVID-19 and so help our neighbourhood develop in a sustainable way.”
(Reporting by Enrique Mandujano; Writing by Karishma Singh; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Lisa Shumaker)
