Peru, Day 10: The Art and Flavours of Lima

Early this morning, we flew from Cusco to Lima, the capital of Peru. Our flight was delayed by several hours, almost throwing our original plans into disarray.

For today, we had chosen a bespoke private tour centred on art and food. It would take us around Lima to see street art and visit art spaces, while also sampling local specialities. We were not told in advance exactly where we would be going—it all came down to trusting the organisers—so we were both curious and excited.

This is Brenda, our guide and the owner of the company. She and her driver accompanied the two of us throughout the day. Whenever we ate, she waited outside. Cheerful and quick to smile, she is developing a niche market in bespoke art tours through her company.

The tour included three meals—breakfast, lunch and dinner, I assumed. By the time we arrived, however, it was nearly noon. Hungry, we went straight to our first restaurant, Los Bachiche (Av. La Paz 1025, Miraflores, Lima), opened by Italian immigrants. The prices were quite reasonable.

Once we had eaten, we set off to see the street art. I used to enjoy photographing graffiti, but it is difficult to photograph it well—or in a way that feels distinctive—so I gradually gave up. In an unfamiliar city, a bespoke tour like this is the best way to explore its street art. Instead of searching for each mural yourself, you are taken straight to it, saving a great deal of time.

Another advantage was that we did more than simply admire the spectacle—we learned a great deal as well. Brenda knew these murals and the stories behind them intimately. She told us about the history of graffiti in Lima, the different schools of artists, the evolution of their careers and styles, and the stories behind both the murals and the buildings they adorned. There was more information than I could possibly remember. It truly was an in-depth tour of Lima’s street art.

Street art that blends so naturally into its surroundings is especially beautiful.

Because we had lost several hours, the street-art portion of the tour had to be cut short. We had a lunch reservation, and our allotted time was nearly gone. And so, in effect, we ended up eating two lunches.

Our second restaurant was ámaZ (Av. La Paz 1079, Miraflores 15074, Peru), which specialises in Amazonian cuisine and was named one of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2017. It offers an entire menu of juices made from local fruits and varieties unique to the Amazon, while its other ingredients are also sourced locally and from the Amazon region. The giant Amazonian snails served with spicy cassava flour were delicious. The local-style corn cakes and ceviche were both very good, and the prawns cooked in bamboo were wonderfully tender and flavourful. This is a restaurant I would readily recommend.

One wall of the restaurant featured the pattern of an Amazonian anaconda woven from beads—a work of art in its own right.

After lunch, we continued to our second stop, Enlace Contemporary Art Gallery. Housed in a two-storey building, it has a relaxed and slightly unconventional atmosphere. The gallery promotes Peruvian and Latin American visual art both at home and internationally, exhibiting work by artists from across Latin America. Though small, it has been ranked among Lima’s ten most worthwhile galleries to visit.

We were received by the gallery’s director, Mr Roberto Ascóniga. He took us through the current exhibition and explained it in detail. With such an experienced insider as our guide, we listened with solemn attention, understanding some of it and pretending to understand the rest, and did not dare take any photographs. We asked plenty of questions along the way. Mr Ascóniga never seemed to mind how naïve they were and answered each one thoroughly. It was a delightful exchange that broadened our horizons considerably.

Perhaps our lively exchange had put him in a generous mood, or perhaps this was part of the plan all along, but he offered to show us the gallery’s storeroom. That was wonderful. Inside, he pulled out the racks of paintings one by one, explaining each artist’s style and why the gallery had chosen to acquire a particular work. I casually mentioned that I liked one painting’s urban subject matter and asked whether I might take a picture. That is how I came away with the only photographic record of the visit. It did not matter that we had taken no other photographs; the experience itself had been fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable.

Noticing my interest in photography, Mr Ascóniga found a booklet by Jorge Miño, an Argentine photographer who had previously exhibited at the gallery, and gave it to me. Accustomed as I was to interpretations of art dominated by Western perspectives, I found it novel and refreshing to encounter the viewpoints and attitudes of Latin American artists, and I learned a great deal from them. I deeply admired their efforts to preserve and develop the art of their own region.

We could happily have stayed longer, but our guide interrupted: we had to stop, as we were about to miss our dinner reservation. So we headed to the next restaurant, Cala (Circuito de Playas, Barranco 15063, Peru).

The restaurant was enormous, with a bar, a dining room and private ocean-view rooms. We had reserved one overlooking the sea, where we felt the ocean breeze, listened to the waves and gazed at Lima’s brightly lit coastline in the distance… Had our flight not been delayed, we could have arrived in time for sunset, which would have made it even more beautiful.

Lima is renowned as one of the world’s great culinary capitals, and three of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants are located here. Even though we booked three months in advance, we managed to secure tables at only two of them, which we planned to try over the next couple of days. At Cala, we sampled the iconic ceviche and Peruvian-style sashimi known as tiradito. The interplay of flavours satisfied even our discerning palates.

The final stop of the day—and its greatest surprise—was a visit to the home and studio of Víctor Delfín, one of Peru’s finest artists. His own likeness appears in many of his paintings; this one, for example, is a self-portrait.

Now eighty-nine, Delfín is regarded as one of Peru’s most accomplished artists. The youngest child of a poor family in a fishing village in northwestern Peru, he graduated from Lima’s National School of Fine Arts in 1958. He briefly served as director of the School of Fine Arts in Puno before teaching art in Chile.

Delfín’s work has been exhibited in major museums around the world. He works in a wide range of materials, including wood, metal, canvas, coloured acrylic and aluminium, and has always said that he has no favourite medium.

He is particularly known for his monumental metal sculptures of birds, horses and other animals, as well as for his sensuous, vividly coloured paintings.

His best-known work is The Kiss (El Beso), a 1993 sculpture depicting a couple locked in a tender embrace. It now stands in Lima’s Parque del Amor, or Park of Love, where newlyweds like to pose beside it after their weddings, especially on Valentine’s Day. A small-scale model of the sculpture stood outside the studio. Through the windows, we could see the lights of Lima’s bustling coastline at night, while the glass reflected the interior of the studio behind us.

Delfín has said that his work often engages with dark and political themes. Although he admits that collectors and museums rarely buy such pieces, he still feels compelled to address social injustice and politics in his art. Many of these works have therefore remained permanently in his studio. This painting by Delfín depicts a grim scene from Peru’s bloody conflict with the Shining Path guerrillas.

More than forty years ago, Delfín established this eclectic studio in the seaside district of Barranco. He has remained here ever since, creating many celebrated and award-winning works.

Cats wandered freely through the studio, making it feel all the more lively and animated.

His home was steeped in art. The living room was furnished with wood-and-leather chairs made by Delfín himself, and many of its ornaments and household objects were handmade. The studio’s broad windows looked out over the vast Pacific.

Even his bathroom was a work of art, covered in a mosaic of rustic tiles.

Outside, we saw numerous sculptures, including angels, bulls, horses and lions. In the distance, traffic streamed endlessly along the highway.

The chance to explore the home of a renowned Peruvian artist at such close quarters was exceedingly rare, allowing us to experience the full breadth of his work. Free to wander through Delfín’s home, we could almost picture him going about his daily life and immersing himself in his art, even though he was not there. Seen in these surroundings, the works felt more alive, as though we could speak directly with their creator. Had it not grown so late, we would have found it hard to tear ourselves away.

Our first day in Lima had been unique and unforgettable. Travelling on a bespoke private tour allowed us to sample many of the city’s distinctive dishes in a short space of time while also getting a feel for its artistic spirit. Whether in its street murals, the exhibitions of a small gallery or the many and varied works of a renowned artist, I sensed the dedication of Lima’s creators. Through their efforts, they are bringing this ancient Inca culture up to—and, at least in artistic terms, sometimes beyond—the most advanced work being done elsewhere in the world. Their energy also drew us out of the deep historical atmosphere of yesterday’s Cusco and back into the vivid, sensuous world of modern Lima.

I was already looking forward to tomorrow. Good night, Lima.

Peru, Day 10: The Art and Flavours of Lima

Continue Reading

In This Series

More posts

Day Seven: A Whirlwind Tour of Athens

Day Five: Rhodes, City of the Knights

Day Six: Christmas—Taking Gains and Losses as They Come

Day Four: Ephesus, After the Sea Receded