Before 2013, graffiti street artists were arrested in Colombia, one artist was even murdered by the police in Bogota in 2011.
That would all change with pop star bad boy Justin Bieber.
After performing a concert in Bogota in October of 2013, Bieber who noticed the illegal graffiti, asked if he could try his hand at creating “street art”.
While the police stood by, Bieber spray painted a tribute to his recently deceased hamster.
Outrage over this hypocrisy had government officials rethink the policy on graffiti.
Soon street artists were not only allowed to create sanctioned graffiti but encouraged to bring this expressive art form to communities throughout Colombia.
Bieber’s connection to Colombia doesn’t end there.
While on another tour in Colombia, he heard a song in a nightclub that he would later remix with his voice in a Bogota studio.
This Spanish-language song “Despacito” would become an international hit, topping the charts in 47 countries.
Even today when visiting Latin America, not a day will go by without hearing that song being blasted somewhere.