Music From South America

Hello everyone, 

I hope y’all are doing well. Before I get started on my blog about music in the Andes, specifically Bolivia, I wanted to share some background information about their style of music, and culture. Within my blog, I am incorporating the topic on Afro-Bolivians and I am going to talk about how music is their way of expressing themselves.

So, here we go. Bolivia, like most of the countries surrounding it, is overpowered by Spain. Even after the independence, the music that was performed in Bolivia was from European descent, but around 1952, there were nationalistic reforms that encouraged the cultural and political awareness of the Aymara and Quechua. Natives of Bolivia started wearing ponchos and started associating themselves with native cultures. From there, Bolivians started to get into folklore, and eventually over time the folk music gained popularity throughout the country. 

After my blog, if you have any questions, or did not quite understand what I am writing about, please feel free to ask me anything (obviously I am not an expert, but I have been doing some research). 

When I was researching the culture of Bolivia, and their music, I came across a website, Solidarity in Saya, that talked about how Afro-Bolivians are struggling to be recognized as people from their own country. In the short documentary below, it tells an interesting story about the Afro-Bolivian community using their music to stand up for themselves and protest. The documentary includes voices of Bolivians from African descent talking about how Saya music and their dances have influenced their movement to gain recognition within the world. Music is not just used for entertainment, or to connect to their culture, but it also helps them perform social movements to create equality. I have also attached another video, it is an Afro-Bolivian song that is more modern than traditional music. 

http://www.solidarityinsaya.com/ 

Another thing that I found very interesting about Bolivia, and their culture is their festivals, and traditions. The folk music within Bolivia changes from mountain to mountain, but the instruments mainly stay the same. Some of the instruments include, Bombo, huancara, reco reco (the percussion instruments), Guitar and Charango (the strong instruments), and Zampolla or Siku ( the pan pipe). I am not going to touch base on all of their festivals, but I am going to show some that I liked. Many of the festivals performed in Bolivia are part of religious celebrations that celebrate syncretism of paganism and catholicism. One of the traditional dances are, La Diablada- The Dance of the Devils, is very famous and known for the display of heavy masks and costumes. The missionaries claim that the dance shows triumph over the seven deadly sins, and that it also shows the victory of good over evil. The dance is expressed through the costumes, where people are wearing devils and angels. One of the other traditional dances is the Tobas, where there are warrior dancers who represent the indigenous people who were deported from the lowlands by the Incas to be used for slave labor. Depending on the festival, the instruments differ. However, most of the time, the same instruments are used to create the melody and beat of the music. (Feel free to skip through the videos. The first one is La Diablada and the second one is Tobas).

https://notesonslowtravel.com/famous-traditional-dances-in-bolivia/#:~:text=La%20Morenada%20is%20easily%20recognizable,Morenada%20means%20'black'). 

While I was reading about Bolivia, I came across weaving. Bolivian textiles come in many different shapes and patterns that take different types of skills. The most common piece is a square shawl that is made of two hand woven pieces and are joined edge to edge, they are called a manta or a aguayo. There are other types of pieces such as the chuspa (coca pouch), chullo (knitted hat), and the falda (skirt). Regional differences are manifested in the weaving styles, and include many different types of colors. Some of the fine weavings originate in Sica Sica, where the wool is woven extremely tight to make 150 threads per inch. Fun fact, the Vicuna fibers are the finest, and most expensive in the world and can be found in Apolobamba and in Parque Nacional Sajama. The weave is made out of wool from alpacas, llamas, and sheep and then dyed with plants to create natural colors. The shawls are used to carry small babies and children, food, and all sorts of products. Below are some pictures and a video of how the shawl is made. 

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/bolivia/background/other-features/d1597ff5-baae-4a9b-8824-294c2942ff6b/a/nar/d1597ff5-baae-4a9b-8824-294c2942ff6b/363120