It's A Jungle Out There

Last week I signed up for another walking tour and I met tonight to take it. The name of the tour is called "The Jungle" as it explores a side of the city that is less refined, somewhat overgrown, with hidden elements that you have to keep your eyes open for. Instead of focusing on the historical or sightseeing points of interest in the city, this tour focused more on street art and took us to the sketchier side of the city. The tour lasted about 2.5 hours and started off a little rough as the rain was pouring down. We walked through local art parks, squatter settlements, visited an antifascist art club, stopped for a sample of street food (focaccia), and finally to an art collective that was quite impressive to say the least. Basically, in the center of the city was (back in the 1940’s) a military installation that included barracks and training fields. The city has recently taken over the training fields and turned it into an urban art park that includes a skateboarding facility, kids playground, and tended green space. The barracks however, have been abandoned over the years and continue to dilapidate. These buildings were taken over by an artists collective that has set up a theater, gardening areas, bicycle repair facility, a training gym, a bar, and general art space for sculpture and mural paintings. The posters hanging around announce upcoming events like movies or concerts or poetry readings. Everything here is put on by volunteers and one of the tour guides belongs to the collective and was able to show us the compound in more detail than we would from many others, I suspect. It was really quite impressive what they’ve done with this place. It is certainly run down and includes infinite safety traps around every corner. It didn’t help that we were taking in this stop after dark and the minimal lighting did little to illuminate the pitfalls abound. Luckily, armed with cell phone flashlights and a pocket floodlight carried by the guide, we all escaped unscathed. The tour concluded after this stop. It was a free tour where you tip at the end. The price was right and I recommend it for people looking to explore the seedier side of Bari.

a gameroom with a fun crocodile mural

another mural on in the abandoned property

part of a mural the length of the whole thing runs a city block