University of Wisconsin–Madison

Argentina: Olivia Ligman (Our Global Classroom)

Our Global Classroom

A moral with a blue background of a cowboy sleeping on the back of a white horse.
This mural, representing a sleeping cowboy atop a horse, is painted on different surfaces.

The program I chose, UW Activism through the Arts, utilizes the city of Buenos Aires itself as a tool, location, and medium for learning. Although most of the traditional class-style programming takes place in an office building in the city center, learning continues outside the office’s walls.

Buenos Aires’ street art, community theaters, and architecture are fundamental parts of the city, and all are deeply tied to the distinctly Argentine culture of street art, protest, and change. While on a walk with a graphic artist and historian of Buenos Aires’ street art, the class was able to learn from the images painted on the city’s streets, apartment buildings, and storefronts.

An abstract mural on a building is visible behind tree foliage, full of different shades of blue and orange.
Abstract Mural representing the season of rebirth, Spring.

Each tour or walk through the city yielded a rich amount of information, whether about the artists in that area, topics that were important to them, or simply differences in aesthetic style. Two of my personal favorite murals were one of a horse and man, painted on multiple surfaces, and the other, a somewhat abstract but clear representation of birth. Both of these murals were done on otherwise inconspicuous, gray walls, and demonstrate incredible artistic skill, planning, and connection with Argentine history.

My class was also able to experience a deeply colorful and artistic part of the city known as La Boca. This was especially enriching following our tour of the museum PROA, as it allowed us to experience and explore Argentine art in both institutional and more grassroots/community-based ways. We learned about the neighborhood of La Boca, its fierce love for its football team, and its ongoing history of community theater and resistance to oppression.

Through an exploration of the streets and different neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, I was able to learn about how different communities responded to repression and dictatorship, and experience how art continues to function as a form of community, expression, and resistance in Argentine society.

Olivia smiles in front of a red brick building and a maple tree.

Olivia Ligman

Majors: African Cultural Studies, International Studies

Hometown: Amherst, Wisconsin

Program: UW Activism through the Arts, Buenos Aires, Argentina