Fileteado… A Very Peculiar Urban Art of Buenos Aires

Towards the turn of the 20th century in Buenos Aires there was a flow of immigrant workers from the old continent to this young and cosmopolitan city. With new architectural and aesthetic styles filling the city, a very peculiar type of urban art was introduced: el filete or fileteado, a popular decorative art with stylised lines and flowered, climbing plants.

It soon became the new aesthetic or ornamental style found on carts of local vegetable, milk and bread vendors all over the city, an original porteño style of ornamentation on everyday objects.

Like the tango, el filete was born out of the lower classes as part of the music, art, dance, and poetry that defined the new porteño identity. Some of the famous phrases, verses or titles of popular tangos of the day would be turned into filetes and painted on the sides of carriages and trucks.

Some of the most famous filetadores (pioneers of the art) are Italians. Salvatore Venturo, Vicente Brunetti and Cecilo Pascarella. However, some of the most renown contributors include Alejandro Monteberri, Martiniano Arce, Leon Untroib, the Brunetti and Bernasconi brothers and Jorge Muscia. The latter still lives and works as a filetador in San Telmo. 

Nowadays, you can still see fileteado on the occasional horse drawn carriages, antique carts along the street, and in select tango saloons. Also, this style of decoration can be seen most pervasively on every single one of the colectivos (buses) that storm the streets of Buenos Aires on a daily basis. Although they are a little hard to photograph since they move so fast, it is worth to check out the detail that goes into decorating these imposing works of art.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/monicalopez/507694275/