A few weeks ago, the nominees for the Grammy Awards were announced. For the first time, a Kichwa group is shortlisted for a nomination in the category of the best global album of the year, for their recent work Saramama. We will know if they remain on the final list on November 10. However, his consideration is a sample of musical progress, not only technically, but also on a level Marketingits movements and the places it has acquired in the industry and its consumers.
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This group is called Humazapas, although according to Citlalli Andrango (producer and dancer), it is more than a group, it is an interdisciplinary collective, part of the artistic movement of young people from the indigenous communities of Cotacachi, which integrates music, dance, audiovisual production, weaving and embroidery. Humazapas is a Kichwa word that can be translated as “untidy”. Citlalli remembers that the name of the group was born more than 10 years ago when some of its members played at the end of the year celebrations in the Turucu community. rock, and with long flowing hair, to which the spectators called them Humazapam. It also alludes to a character that is part of an ancient dance called “Abagos”, where its members went through the process of researching their clothes, movements and music to present it in different scenarios. “-Zapa” in Kichwa functions as a suffix that exaggerates a certain attribute. In this case Humazapa would also be someone with a lot of understanding/knowledge.
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The group consists of 12 Kichwa youth from Turucu, a community a few minutes from the center of Cotacachi. It was born more than 10 years ago, but Citlalli claims that the spark that started it all was a longer process. Much of that time was devoted to research. They had to know the different melodies that accompany the daily life of the community, learn to interpret them and master different instruments such as the harp, pallas and flutes, pinkullo. The next step was reinterpretation. They avoid labeling their work as “traditional”. Their proposal is based on knowledge of the notes and structure of melodies created in communities. It’s not about interpreting the music of the past, it’s about creating from the roots in the present. It was a long process, Citlalli points out, which is why his first album took even 10 years to create. They point out that being considered for a Grammy nomination, in today’s world, is something they appreciate, as they face an industry marked by the speed of social media, urban sounds and trendy Fashion. There was even a process of educating the audience, which gradually gained the attention of young people from an older adult.
Humazapas’ work exemplifies the journey through individual and collective self-knowledge of Kichwa youth who managed to connect the community to the global world through such a complicated industry as the music industry, appropriating the past to create the present. We hope that his work is the reason for the “Kichwa party” and its aesthetic admiration. (OR)
Source: Eluniverso
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
