Visitors with 'Popeye', 'El Barbie' and 'El Cuchillo' |
However, Colombia's conflict has also become so institutionalized and embedded in the culture
Popeye, an assassin employed by Pablo Escobar, has recently testified against the convicted killer of Presidential Candidate Luis Carlos Galan. |
Artist William Ignacio Martinez put together an
La Barbi is a Mexican-American drug cartel leader recently arrested and being extradited to the U. S. The dollmaker likely does not appreciate the nickname. |
exhibition, now at the Fundacion Gilberto Alzate (corner of Carrera 3 and Calle 10, in La Candelaria) treating these cultural oddities and associated horrors as mundane everyday things.
Family photos. |
Photos of paramilitary leaders, surrounded by dolls representing their nicknames, form a sort of family album. Some of these guys have the blood of thousands of people on their hands.
Paramilitary leaders wear wings: a guide told me that this is a play on the iconic Latin American angel image. But the images could also refer to the way that many of the paramilitaries have been flown to United States prisons for trial on narcotrafficking charges. (Ironically, their murders, kidnappings and other terrorism are not considered by U.S. courts.)
A chainsaw: Massacre tool. |
Dolls or monsters? |
Spinning knives cut all around. |
By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours
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