SONGWRITING WORKSHOPS AS A TOOL FOR PEACE AND MEMORY
CONSTRUCTION IN THE COLOMBIAN CONTEXT
Exploring the Challenges, Considerations and Activities
by Alejandra Restrepo
Abstract:
After more than 50 years of war, Colombia is in desperate need of peace and memory construction, peace to change the mind-set of violence that permeated every layer of our culture and memory to avoid repeating our own history. Several approaches can be taken for this purpose, but I’d like to make a proposal related to my field of work. As a songwriter, I’d like to create Songwriting Workshops for communities that have been affected by war. The question would be: How to develop culturally appropriate workshops that would assist in the healing of historic trauma and construction of peace and memory? In order to provide an answer to this question, literature on Colombian history, ethnomusicology, creative arts and music therapy were consulted. To fill in the gaps that have not been answered by the secondary sources, the expert opinion of five interviewees provide relevant information regarding the challenges, considerations and activities that will allow the materialization of this tailored songwriting workshop.
NON-WESTERN MUSICIANS AND WORLD MUSIC
by Alejandra Restrepo
Abstract:
As a Colombian songwriter who makes use of Latin American folklore elements, I often wondered how other Colombian artists like Totó la Momposina, Sidestepper or Meridian Brothers have managed to build a sustainable career -abundant in European Tours, album releases and exposure- when they come from a country where the music industry does not seem to have a relevant place for their sound. Having noticed that folk-related artists tend to struggle when it comes to monetising from their craft, the cases of these two bands and the legendary cantadora seemed exceptional. Looking into their trajectories, I noticed that their music has been categorised as World Music (WM) –in spite of their aesthetic differences- and that they have been signed to WM record labels and booking agencies that have played a significant role in the development of their careers abroad. With this common denominator in mind, the focusof this research project is to elucidate doubts around the following questions:
- What are the implications of being categorised as a WM artist?
- How can non-western artists who work with traditional musics access the WM
industry? - What are the obstacles and incentives WM artists face when developing a
sustainable project in their country of origin? (The Colombian case)
Since there is a significant amount of literature providing answers to question 1,
secondary sources will be used to understand the WM sphere. But considering that the
topics referred to in questions 2 and 3 have not yet been addressed by the literature, this
research aims to fill the gap through primary sources.