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Espacio-Micro

Pilar Ortiz and Paola Velásquez

20’50/ 2007

View Video
(In Spanish)

Micro = Popular name for city buses in Chile

Espacio-Micro documents Santiago's public buses as a backdrop for cultural and social expression. Nomad vendors and musicians work in the public buses, creating a unique language through the development of refined performances and speeches. Will they be able to continue working in the public buses after the implementation of Santiago’s new transportation plan, Transantiago?

Micros have traditionally been essential elements of Santiago’s image and identity. Before Santiago’s Public Transportation system was regulated in 2006, nearly 8000 yellow buses disorderly circulated through the city boroughs, becoming important components of the city’s imaginary. Micros have traditionally been important spaces for public expression and social interaction; they are one of the most diverse spaces in the city and have been scenario for multiple quotidian urban activities.

Unemployment and an extremely low minimum wage have driven a displaced group of the city to develop new informal activities in order to make a living. Nomad vendors and performers search for potential customers/ spectators in micros, turning them into moving public spaces of transaction and cultural expression. Musicians have contributed to the diffusion of art to a broad audience because of the mobile and public character of their work. Artists and vendors have developed a particular language, a discourse that is both formal and popular. There is also a characteristic visual language associated to the old micros; drivers decorate their space with virgin marys, saints, plastic flowers, soccer team tags and all sorts of icons and idols.

In the last few years, Santiago has experienced significant transformations. The city has been completely reorganized with the construction of new freeways and the implementation of the new Public Transportation Plan (2006). Transantiago, the new plan, restructures all bus circuits, with bigger buses traveling through structural avenues and secondary neighborhood-scale routes. The old yellow micros have been progressively replaced with new automatic and standardized buses. The driver does no longer collect the fare and pre-paid cards are now required, making it more challenging for musicians and street vendors to access the new buses. This plan is part of the continuous process of homogenization of urban infrastructure and transportation systems in big cities today.

Espacio-Micro examines the shifting terrain of contemporary Santiago through the eyes of nomad vendors and artists, documenting a local expression as well as part of an important historic moment of Santiago.