Last Friday we took a trip to Callao, Lima's port city, where a portion of its old downtown has been being cleaned up and restored bit by bit. One of the features is an old building, which I am told, was at one time the central post office. It has an grand hall which crosses from one side of the block to the other, with marble floors and busts of philosophers and artists lining the walls. Above, a beautifully-preserved stained glass ceiling allows in plenty of soft natural light.
The numerous side rooms on the first floor have been turned into spaces for artists to display their work, most of it with an ironic sense of humour or touching on social themes and issues such as environmental degradation, youth culture (basically, hip hop), and so on.
