The fileteado, is a popular and decorative art typical from Buenos Aires. Its streamlined shapes are of intense colouring and they are painted so as to create the feeling of volume. Flowers, ribbons, acanthus leaves, dragons and birds are features of its repertoire, which are combined with sayings and pictures of popular characters.

 

In the same way as Tango musically defines Buenos Aires, the fileteado constitutes its iconography. Both artistic manifestations are characterized by their popular origin. Nowadays, and due to its present relevance, the ornamented painting is also an original king of design typical of Argentina and widely acknowledged abroad.

The fileteado has born in the cart factories of our city in the early twentieth century. It was a decorative activity spontaneously developed by the masters of this craft, until it gradually turned into a pictorical genre. It was also used on trucks and public transport until the 70s, when it began to have a widespread use.