Violeta’s Garden

This mural located at the corner intersections of Dundas and Brock St. it depicts the Chilean composer, singer- songwriter, ethnomusicologist, and visual artist Violeta Parra playing the Cuatro (four string instrument). Beside her there is a large image of a hawk surrounded by flowers and vibrant greens and blues. Parra was a vocal advocate for indigenous peoples in Chile and was the first Latin American visual artist to have a solo exhibition at the Louvre in 1964. Artist Paula Tikay explained that the mural was inspired by two of her songs “El gavilán” (the hawk) and “La jardinera” (the gardener), as the hawk on the southern part of the mural and the flowers surrounding Parra’s head illustrate. Aner, the other mural artist who is of Mapuche descent (First Nations in Chile), explained that Parra, although not an indigenous Chilean, was one of the first women in her country to celebrate and promote indigenous culture and diversity.