Lima mayor Luis Castañeda, who took office again in January after previously having held the position between 2003 and 2010, has ordered a particularly heartbreaking mandate—all murals painted during his predecessor's rule must be painted over with yellow paint, yellow being the color of Casteñeda's conservative party. In total, 20 murals will be removed. But his petty mandate has caused an uproar, with protestors forming human fences around the remaining murals and posting to Twitter with the hash tags #SalvemosLosMurales and #MuralesenLima.
Mayor Susan Villaran, who held office between 2011 and 2014, often permitted artists to paint murals celebrating Andean life in the city's historic center, which was designated the Plaza Mayor de la Cultura Iberoamericana (Main Square of Iberoamerican Culture) in 2014 by the Union of Latin American Capital Cities. Casteñeda attempted to justify his decision by claiming the murals presented an issue with UNESCO, which declared Lima's center a World Heritage Site in 1988, but UNESCO politely denied the claim via press release.
Así censuran en #Perú a muralistas del Casco Histórico de Lima #MuralesEnLima (+Fotos) http://t.co/9xRbsmlAuN pic.twitter.com/WbPGkd636F
— La Radio del Sur (@laradiodelsur) March 14, 2015
One tagger has already painted over the yellow, with the words "El arte no se borra" or "Art is not to be erased," written in bold cursive.
#SalvemosLosMurales pic.twitter.com/HE2x0yzey0
— Rossi JP (@RossiJohns) March 31, 2015
Another group is painting QR codes where murals were erased so that people can use their phones to see the art that has since disappeared.
Conoces los Murales Digitales de #Lima mediante #códigosQR ¡Entérate más sobre esta campaña! http://t.co/Jsc0KAOBgs pic.twitter.com/Hvga5A6xSF
— ANDA Perú (@andaperu) April 1, 2015
"Murales Imborrables": Usan códigos QR para ver murales borrados en el Centro de Lima http://t.co/hIUo2iBXfU pic.twitter.com/THzkEcBVQN
— Diario La República (@larepublica_pe) March 31, 2015
Below, images of some of the beautiful pieces of art Lima could lose:
@Peru21pe aquí la foto que tomé hace un tiempo de "Zamba para no Morir" con Chabuca Granda #MuralesenLima pic.twitter.com/4eqEx2hUrR
— Cristhian Rojas S (@CristhianRS) March 13, 2015
· Lima Mayor Orders Murals Destroyed, Outraging Citizens [Hyperallergic]
· All Murals posts [Curbed National]
· All Street Art posts [Curbed National]