‘They don’t want to give power to girls’: the women shaking up Colombia’s graffiti scene

‘I want to be known as a famous artist in the neighbourhood and I’m fighting for it’. Ana Moreno and her mural, the first to be commissioned from a woman in Comuna 13. Photograph: Catherine Davison

A drug-smuggling route runs straight through the Comuna 13 neighbourhood on the outskirts of Medellín, which was once one of the most dangerous places in Colombia. Over the past decade it has been transformed, and is now better known for its colourful murals than for gang warfare.

Graffiti tours of the neighbourhood now attract 20,000 tourists every day. With them comes a renewed sense of purpose for those growing up in the aftermath of Colombia’s civil conflict. But the gains from graffiti tourism have benefited some more than others: almost all of the artists are men.