The Perú: Pachamama program featured several chicha street artists, including Elliot Tupac, a Peruvian muralist and designer who hails from Lima. I had the pleasure of speaking with him about his art, his experience at the Festival, and why he feels urban art is important.

In this video, Elliot walks us through his process of creating mural concepts. He views his art as a “intervention” onto the space, drawing ideas and inspiration from the surrounding people and environment. At the Festival, not only did the idea for the “Libertad” mural come from the people around him, but the artwork did too; he enjoyed the artistic contributions of various visitors who happened upon the space.

Although Elliot doesn’t necessarily consider himself to be an artist, as he says in the video, I hope you are as wowed by his skill, his eloquence, and the significance of urban art in Peru as I was.

Filmography: Albert Tong, Charlie Weber, Pruitt Allen, Jiaban Li, Claudia Romano
Production: Claudia Romano, Marisol Medina-Cadena
Editing: Claudia Romano

Claudia Romano is a video production intern at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and a student at Swarthmore College, where she studies anthropology.