One of the many sayings in Spanish that Australian Eddie White said had really resonated with him since arriving in Colombia was that "no one is a prophet in his own land" because he said he felt he had done better professionally abroad than in his native country.
In fact, he said his interview with SBS Spanish was his first for an Australian media outlet while in Colombia he had already appeared in the media multiple times and had become something of a local celebrity.
Born in Adelaide, Mr White has forged a career in animation and has made several films during his professional life.
However, since he had arrived in Colombia, he said he had focused mainly on illustration.
His drawings of food, music, fashion, local expressions and relationship advice show details of life in Colombia, seen through the eyes of a foreigner.
Highlights:
- Eddie White arrived in Colombia for a short stay just before the COVID-19 pandemic and ended up staying indefinitely.
- He initially became known through his illustrations of typical Colombian life and his Instagram following has grown from 5000 to more than 70,000.
- He travels throughout the country collecting details of everyday life which he then captures in his drawings. He wants to stay and live in Colombia.
The Australian draws the details and cultural expressions in a comical way and adds explanations in English, his native language.
He said the tone was, so to speak, like a basic guide for foreigners to understanding Colombian culture.
Ironically, its main audience was Spanish-speaking but the language had not been a barrier for Colombians to understand the illustrations, he said.
On the contrary, they had connected with them and enjoyed seeing how an Anglo-Saxon explained in his own language and with curious eyes, the daily life of his adopted home, he said.
He said his illustrations were popular not only among young people in Colombia, but also among Colombians abroad, especially in Australia, from where they wrote to him frequently thanking him for portraying Colombia so accurately.
The loneliness of the pandemic reconnected him with his art
Mr White said he had arrived in Colombia on a one-way plane ticket in February 2020, for what was initially intended as a short stay.
"I was staying in Bogotá initially, and then my friend, who was in Cartagena at a film festival, tells me 'come and visit me for three or four days'," he said.
"So I packed a small suitcase with about three or four T-shirts and a pair of shorts, that was pretty much it.
"I went to Cartagena for about four days, but when I arrived, the festival was unexpectedly canceled and then came the confinement.
Everything closed, but we decided to stay because we thought well, you know, the lockdown is going to be for a couple of weeks or something... we didn't imagine it was going to be for six months.
Mr White said he had travelled around Colombia collecting experiences and knowledge about the country and turned the loneliness of the ongoing lockdown into a positive of doing what he loved most: drawing.
"Everyone was stuck on their cell phones and in their homes and I was drawing in the meantime," he said.
"At the time it wasn't just about Colombia, but more about issues essential to people, and people really got hooked on it, and it suddenly became this fun way to interact and not feel lonely in those first few months, and that's how I connected with the Colombian audience in a good way."
From a few followers, to the media
Mr White said he drew what he saw around him day by day, including the food of each region.
He said one of his first series of drawings to become famous portrayed the most representative elements of Colombia alphabetically.
Mr White creates illustrations from all of the different regions of Colombia. Source: Eddie White
His drawing of women's fashion styles in different areas attracted some criticism, he said.
Many found it offensive that a foreigner 'stereotyped' the women of their country, and that he had "sexualized" them through the way they dress, he said.
Although some still remember him for that alone, he said that it was never his intention to offend anyone.
"My drawings are made with love and celebration of the details of people and foods... so I think some misunderstood it, because I have followers who are feminists and they really like my work...this had more to do with the division of academic feminism on Twitter that came at me, but at the end of the day they don't really know me as a person, so any kind of stuff that they used to label me, I quickly realized had to do with their own perceptions, rather than reality," he said.
He said after the controversy, he received even more support from many Medellín fans, who said he had captured reality, and that there was nothing wrong with his illustrations.
Mr White enjoys travelling all around Colombia. Source: Eddie White
"I also exposed a lot of prejudices that I think Colombians have inside, like, if a girl dresses a certain way, they're suddenly labelled 'grilla' or 'prostitute' or all those horrible demeaning words and I never imagined any of that when I did the drawings, so it was a pretty crazy time but I learned a lot about the culture of Colombians and the controversial nature of things, particularly in Medellin," he said.
Suddenly the controversy exploded on Twitter and I was interviewed by Colombian news stations, and I had hate messages at first. Then as the days went by, I started getting a lot of support and I got around 8000 new followers for that. So in the end it was a good thing, but at the time it was a bit overwhelming.
Mr White said he enjoyed travelling to different cities to meet his 'fans'.
He said he was recently in Cali and Popayán where he did what he called "meet and greet" and sold his merchandise: all kinds of textiles on which he printed his drawings.
Drawing Colombia popular expressions
Mr White said one of his most popular series had been that of Colombian sayings.
In a creative and funny way, Mr White said he had given himself the task of drawing Colombian popular expressions and translating them into English, explaining their meaning in his native language.
For example, the popular Colombian saying of "do not give papaya" that is often used when someone puts themselves in a situation of vulnerability so that others took advantage.
He depicted this with a dancing papaya laden with jewelry and money, as if inviting itself to be robbed.
Some of the sayings he drew were even popular in other Spanish-speaking countries, such as “Be as fresh as a lettuce” referring to being relaxed or
He said he also illustrated expressions that may be less common, but quite funny, such as "uglier than a car underneath" to indicate that someone was not very graceful, or "Who ordered chicken?" to signal when an attractive person entered a place.
Mr White said he thought Colombia was something of a muse.
One of the most recent series is called dos mitades and is very popular among Colombians abroad. It portrays what it feels like to live in one place, but to have part of your heart in another. In the case of Australia, for example, draw in one half a jar of Vegemite, and in the other, a jar of arequipe or Dulce de Leche Colombian.
I think I like to collect things in my day to day, the different expressions that people tell me. My followers are wonderful because they send me things every day, and I also listen to the conversations since I live here and talk to friends.
"So it's a bit of following those expressions, and with food it can be as simple as asking my audience what the typical dishes of a particular city are," Mr White said.
"So a lot of the information I illustrate comes from them, and also from traveling around Colombia and experiencing things firsthand."
Succeeding away from home
Mr White said that when he was in Australia, his drawings had not had much traction with a local audience.
I finally found my place, culturally and artistically in my life, at the age of thirty-eight! It is a very special feeling, I had enjoyed my country but with the passing of the days I felt less inspired and to get here and not only love but also to be loved, it's like a dream, really.
Mr White says he has well and truly fallen in love with Colombia. Source: Eddie White
"I think people are what make this country so special. Obviously it has beautiful landscapes, animals and music and all those things, but what really makes it special is its people, and for me Colombia is now part of my history. I really wake up every day with a smile on my face," he said.
