4; MEDELLÍN; MOTOS, ESCOBAR Y BOTERO - MEDELLÍN; MOTORBIKES, ESCOBAR AND BOTERO
13/08/2022 (English below)
Nunca he estado en ningún sitio que tenía tantas motos,
tiendas de motos y talleres de motos.
Me bajé del autobús que me llevó del aeropuerto a la
ciudad y había unas tres o cuatro calles llenas sólo de lugares para comprar, arreglar
o parquear motos. Fue impresionante.
Y en la ciudad hay tantas motos como coches – o “carros”,
como dicen aquí. Es una ola de motos que parece que nunca acaba. Cruzando las
calles hay que tener cuidado porque estas motos serpentean por el tráfico
parado sin pensar mucho en los peatones, y si no estás atento, te pueden
atropellar.
Las motos contribuyen al incesante ruido de esta ciudad.
Todo es ruidoso. Andas por las calles en el centro y escuchas reggaetón, cumbia, salsa saliendo de las tiendas a alto volumen. La gente grita, intenta venderte sus cosas,
las motos rugen, los motores de los coches no paran. Aquí no hay coches eléctricos
silenciosos – todo es barullo y caos.
Medellín es famoso por el narcotráfico, por Pablo
Escobar, violencia y muerte. Jóvenes asesinos contratados por los narcos,
pobreza, barrios donde nadie puede entrar, el deterioro urbano.
No obstante, hay otro lado de la ciudad. Según los conductores
de Uber – mis fuentes más importantes en cualquier ciudad de Colombia, hasta
ahora – Medellín siempre ha sido el centro de industria del país, un lugar de
emprendedores, de innovación, de compañías nuevas y potentes.
Eso se ve en el centro, donde parece que toda la gente
está intentando venderte algo. Es una orgía de comercio, todas las cosas que
quieras imaginar están a venta ahí, entre el ruido, la música, el barullo.
Fernando Botero es el artista colombiano más famoso mundialmente. Es conocido por sus cuadros y esculturas de figuras voluptuosas, redondas, carnosas. Él es paisa – de Medellín – y hay una plaza en el centro de la ciudad que está llena de sus esculturas; todas de animales y de figuras humanas con su estilo muy suyo.
En el Museo de Antioquia en la misma plaza hay una
exposición espectacular de sus cuadros. Uno de ellos trata del hijo más famoso
de la ciudad. Se llama “La Muerte de Pablo Escobar”. Es un tema que un artista
de Medellín no puede ignorar. Muestra los techos de las casas de la ciudad y Escobar como uno más de los personajes de la obra de Botero - obeso, con una barriga redonda, un gigante que parece más grande que la ciudad.
Las obras de Botero han sido mi cosa favorita
de la visita, hasta ahora. Son tiernos, con cariño para sus sujetos – la redondez
de las figuras añade un poder y también un sentido de humor a las obras. Son extraños
y bonitos a la vez.
Hay mucho más que explorar en Medellín. Parece
que hay más aquí que en Bogotá. Tengo 6 días en total para conocer un poco más.
ENGLISH
I have never
been anywhere that had so many motorbike, motorbikes shops and garages to fix
bikes.
I got out of
the bus that took me from the airport to the city of Medellín and there were
three or four streets filled just with places to buy, fix or park motorbikes.
It was striking.
It seems
that the city has as many motorbikes as cars. There are waves of bikes on the
streets that seem never-ending. Crossing the street here you really have to be
careful as the motorbikes weave in and out of the traffic without thinking much
about pedestrians, and if you are not looking out, you could easily get knocked
down.
The
motorbikes contribute to the incessant noise of the city. Everything is noisy. You
walk through the streets in the centre and hear reggaeton, cumbia, salsa blaring
out of the shops. People shout, trying to sell you things, the motorbikes roar,
the car engines do not stop. There are no electric cars here – everything is hubbub
and chaos.
Medellín is
famous for drug trafficking. The Netflix series, Narcos, was set here, in the
time of Pablo Escobar, the most famous of them all. Escobar portrayed himself
as a type of Robin Hood, but in the end he just became a cold-blooded killer. The
city is also known as a place of violence, death, kids contracted as assassins
by the narcos, no-go areas where the police cannot even go, urban blight.
This still
exists, but is becoming more a thing of the past, and there is now another side
to the city. According to my Uber drivers – my most important sources of
information in Colombia – Medellín has always been the industrial and
commercial centre of the country, a place of entrepreneurs, innovation, of new
and powerful countries.
This can be
seen in the centre, where it seems like everyone is trying to sell you
something. It is an orgy of commerce, everything is on sale there amid the
noise, the music, the racket.
In the last
two decades Medellín has renewed itself completely. After Escobar’s death, the government
started to impose its will on the city again, and the people of the barrios got
together with social activists and the city authorities to try to build something
out of all the death and destruction. They build a metro system, a cable car,
libraries, public spaces, and people started to have some pride in their communities
and in their city again. There is still poverty and violence, but things have changed
hugely and now Medellín is a story of hope for other cities wracked by conflict
and crime.
Fernando
Botero is the most famous Colombian artist in the world. He is known for his paintings
and sculptures of voluptuous, round, fleshy figures. He is a paisa – the term
for someone from Antioquia, the region of the country where Medellín is – and there
is a square in the centre of the city that is filled with his sculptures – all of
animals and human figures in his very particular style.
In the
Museum of Antioquia, in that same Botero square, is a fabulous exhibition of
his paintings. One of them is about Medellín’s most famous son and is called “The
death of Pablo Escobar”. It is a theme that a Medellín artist could not ignore. It shows the rooves of the city and the enormous figure of Escobar, round and fat, a giant that seems bigger than the city itself.
Botero’s
works have been my favourite thing about my visit so far. They are tender, with
affection for their subjects – the roundness of the figures adds a power and
also a sense of humour to the works. They are both strange and beautiful.
There is a
lot to explore in Medellín, seemingly more than in Bogotá. I have 6 days in
total to see what I can find in this fascinating city.
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