Andean Entrepreneurs: Otavalo Merchants and Musicians in the Global Arena

Chapter 6: Otavalo Merchants and Musicians in the Global Arena

  Otavalo Merchants and Musicians in the Global Arena This chapter focuses on the Otavalo diaspora since , with an emphasis on the s boom in musical production and international travel to sell both textiles and music. Otavalo music has become globalized, part of the world music beat influencing the music made by others, with Sanjuanitos considered emblematic of Otavalo or Ecuadorian music. While Otavalos emphasize Sanjuanitos as particularly theirs, they adopt and adapt other musical genres to improve their performances and album sales. The last three decades witnessed a change in the quantity and quality of Otavalo travel from short, temporary trips by a few traders within Ecuador or to Colombia to longer trips or the permanent emigration of thousands of Otavalos to destinations around the world. Foreign travel skyrocketed in the s because of such economic pressures as land shortages, intensified competition for textile sales, and hyperinflation. Other factors include experience traveling to nearby countries to sell cloth; the coming of age of the first generation born after the abolition of wasipungu; increased transnational contacts through linkages with NGOs, exporters, researchers, tourists, and missionaries; the ability to obtain airline tickets on credit; and the influence of such groups as Charijayac , who alerted Otavalos to the financial rewards of playing and recording Andean music. Economics is the major motivation for Otavalo transnational migration . An Otavaleña from Ilumán, whose husband makes annual trips to the United States to play music and sell textiles, said, ‘‘People are traveling abroad because there is no work here. And when we earn dollars we gain in the exchange’’ (this was before dollarization). A compadre wrote to me in January , asking for an invitation to visit, because ‘‘here we are without work.’’ He and his family weave estera sweaters, and when he wrote the wool sweater season was over. The most common explana-         We film in their market; they film in ours. José María Cotacachi videotaping in the Walnut Creek, California, Farmer’s Market. November . tion for travel abroad is ‘‘too much competition’’ in Otavalo. Ironically, so many Otavalos are selling abroad that they are now complaining about ‘‘too much competition’’ there. In May , an Ilumán godson wrote to me from Germany: ‘‘We can’t work because of the rain and other things. Also, in Germany it’s difficult because of legalities, and for us it has been difficult because of the competition.’’ He, his brother, and two cousins were pursuing the Otavalo dream of selling artesanías and playing music on the street. As the previous chapters illustrate, Otavalo long- and short-term transnational migrants maintain multiple linkages between their homes, wherever those homes might be. I define long-term transnational migration as a stay abroad of at least a year. Many long-term migrants settle permanently abroad and become residents but maintain close ties with their natal communities. Short-term transnational migration involves a stay of less than a year. Subsumed within short-term migration is seasonal transnational migration.The latter two can be onetime or frequent, with the migrant commonly based in his or her native country but maintaining permanent links with people abroad. The permanent Otavalo residents of Bogotá and Popayán; New York, Madison, Minneapolis, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle; Amsterdam;    and Barcelona are long-term transnational migrants.Otavalos who travel to Canada or France for eight months to a year to play music or sell textiles or to Spain and Italy to work as domestics, in hotels, or as agricultural laborers and then return to Otavalo are short-term transnational migrants, while the annual summer exodus of Otavalos abroad to play music and sell merchandise is an example of seasonal transnational migration. World systems theorists have tended to reduce migration to labor migration , eliminating the different racial, ethnic, or national identities which affect people’s action and consciousness (Basch et al. : ). This caveat is particularly apropos for Otavalos, who first left the valley as textile entrepreneurs or small-scale meat or textile merchants rather than as proletarians or agriculturists seeking wage labor, although the latter became more common following the bank failures in . Most Otavalos are pursuing the capitalist dream of ever-expanding markets for their products. Those who work for wages abroad usually work temporarily for other Otavalos then start their own businesses, although this pattern changed with increased Otavalo migration to Spain to...