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The Graffiti and Street Art of Panama City

Posted on December 12, 2014 by No Map Required Posted in Art, Art & Engineering, Panama, Places .
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December 12, 2014

Guayaquil, Ecuador – The Graffiti and Street Art of Panama City

Sickness struck our trip today here in Guayaquil, so that’s given me some time to work on our final (??) blog posts about Panama! It’s been nice having a Chill Day to think back on the amazing street art and graffiti buses traveling throughout Panama City. The city is incredibly modern in many ways, but one of the wonderful throwbacks is that they have their own version of the “chicken buses” found throughout Asia and Latin America. These are essentially the cheapest version of mass transport where you could find yourself sitting next to someone carrying their live chickens home from or off to the market. Hence, chicken bus. Traditionally these are converted old school buses and that’s how they are in Panama City. Now, you’re not likely to find yourself sharing a seat with a chicken in the city, but you will be driving around in some of the most stylish buses I’ve ever seen! Take a look:

Pretty amazing, eh?

Pretty amazing, eh?

Keep 'em coming...

Keep ’em coming…

Almost all of them had someone's name on the side - girlfriends, wives, daughters and occasionally something religious.

Almost all of them had someone’s name on the side – girlfriends, wives, daughters and occasionally something religious.

More side art.

More side art.

What a fine pair!

Almost feels like a ‘Before and After’ shot.

Bright!

Bright!

141205_PanamaChixBus

Don’t know if the stacks were functional with the muffler, but they sure looked cool!

They also looked amazing at night…

Light 'em up!

Light ’em up! Anner liked this one since the lights were red!

More lights = better, right?

More lights = better, right?

Yep, there is DEFINITELY some airbrushing talent in Panama! Seeing the buses always made me smile and reach for my camera. There’s also an amazing culture of street art out there. Actually there’s an astonishing number of outdoor sculptures both in the parks and simply on the medians of random streets, but what was more interesting to me was the street art and graffiti. Love, love, loved all the color! Good stuff!

Street art on the edge of the Casco Antiguo district.

Street art on the edge of the Casco Antiguo district.

If you're going to do cool painting, you better have a cool hat!

If you’re going to do cool painting, you better have a cool hat!

Love the rich colors!

Love the rich colors!

Okay, this final shot isn’t of the art, but it sort of is art itself.  The same designer as for the EMP in Seattle.

The brand new BioMuseo designed by Frank Gehry.

The brand new BioMuseo designed by Frank Gehry.

15 Comments
« Headhunting in Costa Rica: A Quick Post
Panama – The Little Things »

15 Responses

  1. karen says
    December 12, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    little EMP! love these pictures. I hope you get well SOON!

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      December 13, 2014 at 7:05 am

      Thanks, Karen! I took a bunch more, but I didn’t want to overwhelm everyone – loved the art! Anner’s on the mend, but it’ll probably be another day before we continue on to Cuenca for our housesit.

      Reply
  2. Brigit says
    December 13, 2014 at 10:04 pm

    oooooo, yeah!!! love EVERY pic in this post (others too but this is a fav). overwhelm with more please! :o) Get well asap and have good travels to your next destination. HUGS!!

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      December 15, 2014 at 7:21 am

      Thanks, Brigit! I’ll see what I can do about sending you a few more. 🙂 Missing you guys!

      Reply
  3. Casey says
    December 14, 2014 at 12:05 am

    These buses ate WONDERFUL!! Too bad the States are too up tight to do this with our buses. Maybe more ridership. Get well and take it easy til you are. Hugs.

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      December 15, 2014 at 7:19 am

      It looks like Panama is working on getting rid of them as well! That’ll be a sad day, both for losing the art and for making it more expensive for the folks normally travelling on these cheaper options. Here’s hoping they stick around for years to come!

      Reply
  4. Kami says
    December 15, 2014 at 9:45 am

    The buses look so amazing! And I love seeing Frank Gehry’s work, thanks!

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      December 15, 2014 at 11:58 am

      Our pleasure! The BioMuseo was pretty amazing from the outside, but we couldn’t justify the gringo pricing for entry, so we just enjoyed the architecture.

      Reply
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