La María Mulata

AT A GLANCE

Why go?

La María Mulata is a striking bronze-colored sculpture perched on a four-meter pedestal in Barranquilla's Alto Prado neighborhood, created by renowned Colombian artist Enrique Grau to honor the black grackle bird that is a constant companion of Caribbean life. The monument depicts the bird mid-song, head raised skyward with wings and tail spread wide — a dramatic pose that mirrors the creature's bold, unbothered presence in courtyards, balconies, and streets throughout the coastal city.↗↗

Despite its evocative name, this monument does not depict the legendary Carnival mulata woman — it celebrates the mariamulata bird itself (Quiscalus lugubris), whose glossy black plumage flashes blue-green iridescence in Caribbean sunlight. Grau, who donated sculptures of these birds to several Colombian cities, saw in them a symbol of everyday costeño life: the bird that watches over patios, perches on window ledges, and fills mornings with its song.↗↗