Abstract

The story that is related in the following comic strip was created as an alternative method of engaging conversation with members of the metropolitan sikuri movement in which I take part. Most of the metropolitan sikuris (players of Andean panpipes) live in large Latin American cities such as Lima, Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Bogotá where they perform musical traditions related mainly to Aymara fiestas. Their awareness of playing “someone else’s music” (Bigenho) haunts their everyday conversations, some of which have taken the form of pamphlets, academic books, video documentaries, and even comics. What follows is an introduction to my comic strip, to trace a history (and a story, for in Spanish “historia” carries both meanings) of the sikuri movement in Bogotá. The cartoon protagonists introduce questions related to the challenges of performing musical traditions created by peoples associated with other nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures. These questions may open discussions about broader issues such as the relevance of the concept of “lo andino” (Andeanness) as one of the most important referents through which Latin America imagines itself today.

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