{"id":13947,"date":"2019-10-15T10:55:51","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T14:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=13947"},"modified":"2019-10-15T13:46:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T17:46:41","slug":"chicha-peru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2019\/10\/15\/chicha-peru\/","title":{"rendered":"The Incandescent Chicha Posters That Revolutionarized Peruvian Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Peru in the 1980s, a new music exploded in popularity on the radio: Chicha. The word can refer drinks made from purple corn or fermented fruit and grains, but it\u2019s also become the name of a whole musical and visual aesthetic. Bands like Alegria, Los Shapis and Chacalon took the indigenous Huayno music\u2014that migrants from the Andes and Amazon brought with them when they settled in the capital, Lima, in 1960s and \u201870s\u2014and added electric guitars. Along with the music\u2019s popularity came a boom in posters to promote the shows.<\/p>\n

In the 1980s, Pedro \u201cMonky\u201d Rojas Mesa was one of the leading designers who helped revolutionize Peruvian concert posters by shifting from blocky letters to flowing calligraphy and incandescent colors\u2014inspired by the bright red, yellow, green and pink of indigenous Huancayo embroideries. Pasted up all over Lima, his graphics sparked a movement.<\/p>\n

Monky is one of the artists featured in \u201cRevoluci\u00f3n Chicha: Street Art & Graphics of Peru,\u201d<\/a> organized by Director of Exhibitions Andrew Mroczek at Lesley University\u2019s Lunder Arts Center, 1801 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, from Sept. 3 to Dec. 31, 2019.<\/p>\n

\"Pedro<\/a>
Pedro \u201cMonky\u201d Rojas Mesa posters. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBorn in the 1980s as the result of a clash between indigenous and colonial cultures,\u201d an exhibition sign explains, \u201cChicha art has long been associated with Peru\u2019s \u2018lower classes.\u2019 Originally used to advertise musical events, it has been revived by a new generation of artists and activists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chicha art represents an assertion of cultural pride and power by indigenous and working class citizens of Lima. Elliot Tupac expanded from concert posters to painting murals championing indigeous culture. in Lima\u2019s wealthy Miraflores neighborhood, Tupac painted \u201cCholo Power,\u201d redefining the insult \u201ccholo\u201d for a person of indigenous American or mestizo heritage. Bidkar Yapo of Nacion Chicha rewrote the beginning of Peru\u2019s national anthem from \u201cSomos libres, seamoslo siempre (We are free; let us always be so)\u201d to \u201cSomos cholos, seamoslo siempre (We are cholos; let us always be so).\u201d<\/p>\n

Moises Sants launched UPUS Peru (Unidos por un Sueno\/United by a Dream) in 2017 to promote more joy generally. His one-of-a-kind drawings and paintings proclaim \u201cSonrie es Gratis (Smile It\u2019s Free)\u201d and \u201cSoy Feliz Con Todo Mi Corazon (I Am Happy with All My Heart).\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Amapolay's<\/a>
Amapolay’s 2016 screenprint \u201cVerguenza Nacional (National Shame)\u201d reads: \u201cPor Justica y Dignidad (For Justice and Dignity)\u201d; \u201c283,500 Mujeres ESterilizadas (283,500 Women Sterilized)\u201d; \u201c600 Millones de $ Robados ($600 Million Stolen)\u201d; \u201cFujimori Nunca Mas (Fujimori Never Again).\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chicha art has also become a vehicle for protest. Posters by Samuel Gutierrez of Familia Gutierrez shout \u201cAmazonia Resiste (The Amazon Resists)\u201d: \u201cThe jungle can\u2019t be sold, the jungle is defended.\u201d Nacion Chicha supports women\u2019s rights with the slogan \u201cFree and Fearless\u201d and champions LGBTQ rights with rainbow lettering reading \u201cAmor es Amor (Love is Love).\u201d<\/p>\n

The posters of Amapolay\u2014Fernando Castro and Carol Fernandez\u2014stridently advocate the defense of Amazon lands from logging, promote indigenous rights and oppose President Alberto Fujimori administration\u2019s forced sterilization of indigenous women and mass murders. Their 2016 screenprint \u201cVerguenza Nacional (National Shame)\u201d reads: \u201cPor Justica y Dignidad (For Justice and Dignity)\u201d; \u201c283,500 Mujeres ESterilizadas (283,500 Women Sterilized)\u201d; \u201c600 Millones de $ Robados ($600 Million Stolen)\u201d; \u201cFujimori Nunca Mas (Fujimori Never Again)\u201d<\/p>\n

A 2017 Amapolay screenprint reads: \u201c314,605 mujeres fueron esterilizadas sin saber en el marco del programa nacional de planificacion familiar del gobierno de alberto Fujimori. Esterilaciones Forzados. Nunca Mas. Fujimori Nunca Mas. (314,605 women were sterilized without their knowledge under the national family planning program of the government of Alberto Fujimori. Forced Sterilizations Never Again. Fujimori Never Again.)\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"Pedro<\/a>
Pedro \u201cMonky\u201d Rojas Mesa, \u201cRevoluci\u00f3n,\u201d 2019 screenprint.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Familia<\/a>
Familia Gutierrez (Samuel Gutierrez) sticker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Elliot<\/a>
Elliot Tupac \u201cPeace Building\u201d 2016 screenprint.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pedro<\/a>
Pedro \u201cMonky\u201d Rojas Mesa concert poster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Moises<\/a>
Moises Sants of UPUS Peru (Unidos por un Sueno\/United by a Dream): \u201cSer Valiente es Bacan (Being Brave is Cool),\u201d 2019, pen and acrylic on paper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lu.Cu.Ma<\/a>
Lu.Cu.Ma (Luis Cuevas Machego) reproduction of his painting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Familia Gutierrez (Samuel Gutierrez). \u201cAmazonia Resiste\u201d 2018 inkjet poster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Familia<\/a>
Familia Gutierrez (Samuel Gutierrez) posters. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nacion<\/a>
Nacion Chicha (Bikar Yapo), \u201cAmor es Amor (Love is Love\u2014Supporting LGBTQ Rights),\u201d 2018 screenprint.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pedro<\/a>
Pedro \u201cMonky\u201d Rojas Mesa posters. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Familia<\/a>
Familia Gutierrez (Samuel Gutierrez) stickers from 2015 to 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nacion<\/a>
Nacion Chicha (Bikar Yapo), \u201cLibres y Sin Miedo (Free and Fearless\u2014Women\u2019s Rights Movement),\u201d 2017 screenprint.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Moises<\/a>
Moises Sants of UPUS Peru (Unidos por un Sueno\/United by a Dream): \u201cSonrie es Gratis (Smile It\u2019s Free),\u201d 2019, pen and acrylic on paper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Amapolay's<\/a>
Amapolay’s 2017 screenprint reads: \u201c314,605 mujeres fueron esterilizadas sin saber… (314,605 women were sterilized without their knowledge…).”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Familia<\/a>
Familia Gutierrez (Samuel Gutierrez) inkjet poster, 2018\/2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Elliot<\/a>
Elliot Tupac \u201c\/El Peru no es Lima,” screenprint.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Elliot<\/a>
Elliot Tupac posters. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Familia<\/a>
Familia Gutierrez (Samuel Gutierrez), \u201cPerroperuano: Tengo el Orgullo de ser Pelado (“Peruvian dog: I have the Pride of being Peeled),\u201d inkjet poster, 2018\/2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

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In Peru in the 1980s, a new music exploded in popularity on the radio: Chicha. The word can refer drinks made from purple corn or fermented fruit and grains, but it\u2019s also become the name of a whole musical and visual aesthetic. Bands like Alegria, Los Shapis and Chacalon took the indigenous Huayno music\u2014that migrants […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,112],"tags":[42,327,625,623,624],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13947"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13947"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14036,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13947\/revisions\/14036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}