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Reuters

From the window of her tin-sided shop outside El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador, Esmeralda Quintanilla watches artists get to work on walls pockmarked by bullet holes from the country’s civil war and gang conflict.
Armed with brushes, paint and spray cans, muralists and graffiti artists have already covered the walls of several of the 40 five-storey units in a housing complex in Zacamil, a neighbourhood in the city’s Mejicanos district.
“With the murals, everything looks really nice,” says Quintanilla, a 55-year-old seamstress who has lived in the neighbourhood nearly half her life.
“You start to see all this and it gives the place a different image. I feel really happy, proud,” she adds.



The dozen murals already completed include a Mesoamerican pyramid, pixelated depictions of the Virgin Mary, and works straight out of the artists’ imaginations.
The initiative in the once-violent neighbourhood seeks to fill the community with art. Its aim in Zacamil over the next two years is to create large murals on nearly every wall of the complex, which houses around 4,000 residents.
Zacamil got a break from decades of violence two years ago, when President Nayib Bukele launched a nationwide crackdown on gangs. The state of emergency – which human rights groups have condemned amid reports of abuses – has put almost 82,000 alleged gang members in prison.



Even with the murals improving the neighbourhood’s appearance, chronic infrastructure issues remain, with garbage piled up in the streets and storm drains clogged.
TV antennas, power cables, and clothes strewn out of windows across clotheslines also dot the neighbourhood.
Many Zacamil residents fled in 1989 when fighting between the Salvadoran army and the former leftist guerilla group, Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) nearly destroyed the Mejicanos district.



When they returned, many found their homes had been damaged by earthquakes or invaded by gang members.
“There are always problems, but this is [giving the neighbourhood] a facelift,” says a 70-year-old resident who declined to give his name.
El Salvador’s bloody, 12-year civil war from late 1979 to January 1992 killed more than 75,000 people.


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Mural artists in El Salvador paint over bullet holes to give a troubled neighbourhood hope

A woman and a child by a mural in Zacamil, San Salvador. Photo: Reuters

Italian artist Beatrice Vigoni’s murals titled Cryptomadonna of Peace and Pachamama in Zacamil, San Salvador. The initiative in El Salvador’s capital has seen paintings of the Virgin Mary, Mesoamerican pyramids and more brighten up a community scarred by violence. Photo: Reuters

The aim behind the murals in Zacamil is to adorn almost every wall of the bullet-scarred housing complex – home to around 4,000 people – with art over the next two years. Photo: Reuters

Artists work on Outside, a mural designed by Salvadoran artist Fernando Orellana. Photo: Reuters

Italian artist Beatrice Vigoni paints a building as part of the project. Photo: Reuters

Murals titled “Mayan Temples” by Italian artist Glen Lazio. Photo: Reuters

Beatrice Vigoni works on a mural on a Zacamil building. Photo: Reuters

A woman prepares pupusas – Salvadoran flatbread snacks – in a building painted by Vigoni. Photo: Reuters

Artists use scaffolding and harnesses to adorn the public housing estate's walls with art. Photo: Reuters

The murals give the troubled neighbourhood “a different image”, a resident says. Photo: Reuters

A woman works at her shop adjoining the Outside mural. Photo: Reuters

3 Hong Kong tattoo parlours that represent the new generation of body artists

Co-owners of Star Crossed Tattoo Megan Lancaster (in white) and Rika Korponay at their studio in Wan Chai. We visit three prominent tattoo parlours ahead of this year’s Hong Kong China International Tattoo Exhibition, from October 4 to 6. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Star Crossed Tattoo’s artists (from left): Takco Siu, Yahel Kfir, Megan Lancaster and Rika Korponay. Lancaster and Korponay are co-owners. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

The interior of Star Crossed Tattoo in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Mei Wah Tattoo founder and artist JYNT in his parlour in Mong Kok. Photo: Jonathan Wong

From left: Kovit, founder Jynt, and Leon Lam are all artists at Mei Wah Tattoo in Mong Kok. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The 59 Tattoo founder Marcus Yuen at his studio in Wan Chai. Photo: May Tse

Yuen moved his studio to Wan Chai, one of the first areas in Hong Kong to have tattoo parlours. Photo: May Tse

Christie’s purchase of classic car dealer amid art market slump hailed as ‘great news’

The 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider Gooding & Company sold for US$18 million in 2023. Photo: courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd.


The 1970 Porsche 917K Gooding & Company sold for US$14 million in 2017. The classic car seller announced on September 12 that it had agreed to a merger with Christie’s that even competitors are praising. Photo: courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd.


The 1967 Toyota-Shelby 2000 GT Gooding & Company sold for just over US$2.5 million in 2022 as the most expensive Japanese car sold at auction. Photo: courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd.

The 1937 Talbot-Lago T150-C-SS Teardrop Coupe Gooding & Company sold for US$13.4 million in 2022 as the most expensive French car sold at auction. Photo: courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd.

The 1995 McLaren F1 Gooding & Company sold for a record-breaking US$20.5 million in 2021. Photo: courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd.

Young naked women are their canvas – nude art of 2 anonymous Hong Kong artists challenges city’s conservative attitudes towards sex

Lousy’s body paint on a nude woman. The anonymous Hong Kong graffiti artist paints bold designs on young, naked women then photographs them in erotic poses. Photo: Lousy                                                         

Another of Lousy’s “kissfaces”, on Queen’s Road West in Hong Kong. Photo: Lousy

Lousy’s photobook “Yook”, published in 2020. Photo: Lousy

Matsushimaon’s body art on a nude woman. Photo: Matsushimaon

Professor Sonia Wong says there is not a lot of space in erotic or explicit artistic disciplines for women to express their sexuality, especially in Hong Kong. Photo: Professor Sonia Wong

Artist Lousy’s portrait. Photo: Lousy

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Civil war and gang violence left a Central American neighbourhood scarred. Painting huge murals on housing blocks heralds a brighter future


Civil war and gang violence left a Central American neighbourhood scarred. Painting huge murals on housing blocks heralds a brighter future.


Americas and the Caribbean

El Salvador