Muralist - Sculpture - Fine Arts
Painted on a prominent wall in La Paz, Usurpación del Boliviano is a monumental mural that spans 3 meters high by 13 meters wide. Executed in acrylic and oil directly on cement, this work is both visually striking and historically charged. As one Bolivian journalist aptly stated, “This is Bolivia’s history in five minutes.”
The mural is a sweeping visual narrative of the centuries-long exploitation and subjugation of the Bolivian people, beginning with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. Through layered imagery and symbolic figures, it traces the brutal legacy of colonization—from the extraction of silver from Potosí’s mines under enslaved Indigenous labor, to the continued economic and political disenfranchisement of Bolivia’s Indigenous majority.
The composition is structured as a chronological journey: it begins with the violent imposition of foreign power and religion, moves through scenes of rebellion and resistance, and ends with a critical reflection on contemporary neocolonial forces that still shape the country’s destiny.
Each section is dense with visual metaphors—chains, mountains, masks, and hands—blending historical documentation with poetic expression. The mural does not shy away from confronting injustice; rather, it forces viewers to reckon with a painful but essential truth: that Bolivia's present is still deeply entangled in the unresolved traumas of its past.
Usurpación del Boliviano is not just a mural—it is a public reckoning, a call to remember, and a tribute to the resilience of those who continue to resist exploitation in all its forms.