In September, 2016, I travelled to Cartagena, Columbia to participate in the South American Psychoanalytic Association Conference (FEPAL). When the conference ended, I stayed an extra week to explore. In conversations with local people, I learned about current concerns: the peace negotiation and signing of the peace agreement and also about work around identity in communities of African descent. Riding the bus, I saw huge photographs that were portraits of Columbians of African descent with the caption, “Negro es Lindo”.  (“Black is Beautiful”).

When I travel in Latin America, I like to experience the ritual of the Mass in diverse communities. My first Sunday in Cartagena, I was directed to a church in the Getsemani neighborhood. There I found a community enlaced with buildings covered by elaborate artistic expressions. I returned to the neighborhood several times to take the artistic Expressions in. Much of the imagery on buildings was about identity and representations of the Self. Other images seemed to spring forth from deep places in the imagination.Works were made with paint and even with collaged pieces attached to walls.

Here I share images of the Public Art in Getsemani: