Mural Commission - Club Colombia Restaurant by KATIRA in Melbourne

The beautiful wall mural you see before you, depicting a “Palenquera” (fruit-seller) carrying her baby in a sling, is the work of talented artist Katherine Gailer. We wanted an artwork for Club Colombia that represents the strong and hard-working women (and particularly mothers) of Colombia. We’re delighted with what Katherine has created. “This mural honours women and hard working mothers. It pays tribute to Colombian culture and represents the warmth and resilience of our people.”- Katherine. The corn is also an important symbolic element of the mural, holding strong cultural, historical and spiritual significance. “Corn is the main food source of Colombia. Corn crops taught our ancestors how to observe the sun and read the stars and seasons. It has a spiritual meaning to us. It connects us to our past and present”. Originally from Colombia and currently working in Australia, Katherine Gailer creates imaginary landscapes exploring characters, our natural environment, cultural identity and spaces of magical realism. Katherine graduated with honours from a Bachelor of Fine Arts and completed an Arts Management Masters Degree– both at RMIT University. Her Practice incorporates oil painting, mural and illustration. Gailer’s artistic expression underscores a main theme that looks at the complex relationship between fragility and strength, vulnerability and empowerment. Her artworks can be interpreted as a series of confronting tensions to articulate the essence of the Feminine as a force of relatedness in our world today. Recovering a sense of the sacred and revisiting our ancient past embody the driving force for the develop- ment of her artworks.