Puerto Plata’s Malecon, which will be 50 years old in 2024, is gradually becoming a huge public art showcase, with murals covering the spaces of most of its 40 buildings, as part of the “Ruta de Arte y Color” initiative of the Ministry of Tourism.
With the Atlantic in the forefront, the colorful gallery of images gathers, above all, tropical prints of the Creole, the marchanta, the fish seller or the water coconut seller, couples dancing merengue or bachata, children enjoying the waters of rivers and beaches, a girl with a bouquet of flowers, the cayenas, fish and birds, the sunrise of a kitesurfer and the colorful and ornate taimáscaros, the native representation of the carnival of Puerto Plata and on Duarte Street an impressive bulldog dog, which could scare anyone, on a sleepless night.
It is not, perhaps, the free expression of the artist, creating art, from the depths of the soul, they are colorful prints of the local, with palettes rooted in the tropical, some happier than others, but all, representative of what we are, of what visitors can find in these lands, including our mestizaje, the characters are not those of stylized beauty, but the common people, who day by day go out to earn their bread, the joy and innocence of our children, or those who enjoy a moment of solace, to the rhythm of merengue or bachata.
The Initiative
The project, which is financed by the Ministry of Tourism, is directed by CEIZTUR, under the coordination of the cultural manager and muralist, Yineida Fernández, and covers Puerto Plata, Sosua, Cabarete, Rio San Juan, Cabrera and Samaná, according to the information provided by the regional director of Tourism, Atahualpa Paulino.
The same includes the painting of 25 buildings, which will have 21 murals, 19 of which have already been completed, as well as others in the historic center and in the perimeter area of the municipal cemetery, Batey Tres and other parts of the city.
Artists from all over the country are participating, sending their proposals with themes that connect with “Dominicanidad and the tourist destination”, having as a north: “the purpose of the project is to rescue and beautify spaces through mural art and color, contributing to the tourist destination in which we show the visitor the true Dominican art, turning the murals into tourist guides that show what we are as a people”.
The artists
Among the artists who have already painted their works are: Luis Ángeles, Manaury Calasan, Katherine Santana, Gregory Suero, Oscar Mauricio, Nelson Mendoza, Misael Amos, Adalberto, Lidisset Reyes, Federico Velásquez, Caraballo, Teddy Tejeda, Alex Jiménez, Ariel Soto, Wanda Portorreal, Yineida Fernández, the great majority are from Puerto Plata.
The murals are one more attraction to see in Puerto Plata, to take pictures and appreciate the beauty of the region, the environment of the boardwalk most of its nearly four kilometers long, which make this northern city in an extensive canvas of public art and the diversity of cultural expressions in the area.
Source: Mitur.gob.do
