La Boca拉波卡画家村

● After the first settlers of French Basque origin, La Boca soon grew to become an Italian district of Buenos Aires. This used to be the area where Italian immigrants arrived, and settled in the poorest conditions. They actually built their houses of leftover corrugated iron and other waste found in the nearby harbour and industry on the Riachuelo river. In order to make their neighbourhood more attractive, they decided to paint their houses in bright colours.

● Obviously, also the paint used actually was leftover paint from boats - hence the many different colours that can be seen. The area has become one of the prime tourist destinations in the city of Buenos Aires, and as such feels less authentic than it must have been. Souvenir shops and restaurants strive for customer's attention and tourist dollars. Nevertheless, it does deserve a visit because of the optimism that the colours provoke - contrasting to the difficult conditions in which the area has developed.

● If you think the area is like an open-air museum, well, not entirely so, as people still inhabit the houses. Now, in the Caminito street you can also see artists painting and dancers performing tango. The world-famous Boca Juniors soccer team, club of star Maradona, actually comes from this neighbourhood. The area is an easy bus ride from the city centre.

Note:

○ 19世纪50年代时，拉波卡作为港口城市，拥有大量的劳工。劳工们拥挤地住入这一区，卫生不好，设施不足，渐渐就变成一个“人人用一块铁皮就搭起一间屋子来住”的地方。据说，当时的铁皮，许多还都是由废弃海港里那些停泊的弃船上撕下来的。这些用铁皮钉成的屋子，因为海风潮湿，极易生锈。没多久，整个拉波卡就变成一个几乎全褐色的“生锈贫民区”。为了防止生锈，人们开始在上面涂彩色的漆。

○ 开始的时候，是每间屋子外面涂上自己的巨型图案或设计。有人画云朵天使，有人画上俄国妖僧，并没有一个同心协力的联合式大主题。今天的拉波卡，乍眼看去有如童话城，有如整条街整个区都是出自一位风格统一的画家手笔， 那是因为在20年前，这里开始真正搬来了许多穷困艺术家。

○ 踏入90年代，这条“艺术街”上的“地皮价码”也变得不可同日而语。而且，也并不是手里握着一大叠钞票就可以买到这里的屋子，
第一个条件：“你必须是一名艺术家”。现在连这个条件都得改改了：你必须是一名“出色的”艺术家。真的要很“出色”。因为你住在那一间，就负责“出”那一间的颜“色”。