Mamani Mamani Murals in El Alto Bolivia • Trans-Americas Journey

Roberto Mamani Mamani is one of Bolivia’s most famous artists and his vibrant, geometric work comes in all shapes and sizes including these massive Mamani Mamani murals on a collection of apartment buildings located in El Alto, Bolivia which combine art and culture in big, bold ways.

The tall buildings covered in vibrant murals by Bolivian artist Roberto Mamani Mamani make these apartment buildings stand out among the drab brick structures that surround them in El Alto, Bolivia.

The story behind the Roberto Mamani Mamani murals in El Alto, Bolivia

At first glance, the Mamani Mamani murals in El Alto may seem like a simple case of vibrant, joyous, larger-than-life public art, but there’s more to them than that.

The artist has said that he was inspired by the spiritual life of the Aymara Indigenous group and by the group’s colorful flag. Bolivia’s Indigenous flag is called the wiphala (sometimes spelled whipala) and it features seven colors including red (representing the earth and the Andean man), orange (representing society and culture), yellow (representing energy and strength), white (representing time and change), green (representing natural resources and wealth), blue (representing the cosmos), and violet (representing Andean government and self-determination).

The colors of the wiphala flag provided a creative backbone to Mamani’s work which includes 14 murals covering 108,000 square feet (10,000 square meters) on seven 12 story apartment buildings with 336 apartments. Special scaffolding had to be developed for the Mamani Mamani mural project which took five months to complete and involved dozens of helpers.

Former Bolivian President, Evo Morales (an Aymara and the country’s first Indigenous president) spoke at the inauguration of the murals. And because of the size and scale of the project, these Mamani Mamani murals were submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records.

These murals are beautiful to look at, but their symbolism is powerful as well.

Modern art based on Indigenous traditions.

No other buildings in El Alto, Bolivia look like these.

Our truck in front of the Mamani Mamani murals in El Alto, Bolivia.

The front and back of this building, which corresponds to the color white, features murals called Llokalla and Kollasuyo (youth and the philosopher).

The front and back of this building, which corresponds to the color green, features murals called Pachamama and Jamp’atu (mother earth and fertility).

The front and back of this building, which corresponds to the color blue, features murals called Mallku and Chakana (a diety that knows no geographic limit and the pathway to the cosmos).

The front and back of this building, which corresponds to the color purple, features murals called Niño Condor and Wiracocha (baby condor and the old man of the universe).

The front and back of this building, which corresponds to the color red, features murals called Amauta and Awicha (the keeper of ancient wisdom and the powerful grandmother).

The front and back of this building, which corresponds to the color orange, features murals called Ñusta and Taika (a medicine woman and the maternal).

The front and back of this building, which corresponds to the color yellow, features murals called Charchwarmi and Hombre Coca (gender equality as expressed in male/female elements and a coca man).