La Sarita: Art born in the contact zones? by Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad

Revista cultural electrónica

Año5. Nº5. Noviembre 2009. Lima-Perú. www.interculturalidad.org

_________________________________________________

La Sarita: Art born in the contact zones∗ Peruvian Rock Fusion Band Miryam Yataco1 miryamyataco@gmail.com

I think all Peruvians living abroad, must constantly update themselves with information on what is happening back in Peru. New concepts of citizenship are emerging among the new generations of Peruvians growing up in the homeland. “And remember that the strength of Peru lies in its cultural, racial, religious, & geographic diversity, our differences should strengthen us, our differences should unite us … as we learn to be better human beings… by feeling affection for ‘the other’ and with/for each other … and can thus rely on one another … to one day … dream of equal justice and happiness for us all."

Fuga: Saritaqa llapan runa kusichiqmi (La Sarita, the ones that bring happiness to the people)

Julio Perez Luyo’s words in the song 'Carnaval' (Lima, 2007) Mix of Songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O81zyzD3Z9M&feature=related The Danzaq in "Danza la Raza" are Julio Salaverry Challhuacha de Chipao and Carlos Saire, Andean harp by Hector Rojas Tukucha Chiwiri, and the Andean violin of Marino Marcacuzco 2 .- Guachimán 3- Simeón. ∗

Sources of information: Sarita Colonia: Popular Resistance in the everyday life of Transnational Migrants. http://interculturalidad.org/numero03/5_023.htm

Miryam Yataco is a Peruvian linguist and an advocate for linguistic rights & linguistic diversity. She is interested in all arts born, produced and maintained in the Contact Zones. She is a devotee of La Sarita (both Sarita Colonia and of La Sarita rock band). Acknowledgements Thanks to Dr. Nancy Lemberger, aficionado of Peru, for her editorial help. Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad. Nº5. Año 5. Vol. 4: 1-27, 2009 www.interculturalidad.org

Undoubtedly Peru is in a time of transformation and, the new generations are shaping this change. The country is renewing itself, and showing (without fear) its true colors, its true heterogeneous nature, it is also producing new trends. A new language in sheer development is being born, a language emerging from within…diverse, inclusive –a language that aims to reflect who we are: colorful, multilingual, multicultural, a language of encounter. La Sarita, a group of young Peruvians, take the forefront of this change through the medium of Rock-Fusion. The group was founded in 1998, by urban youth committed to their national reality. Their music reflects the hybridization of several worlds that were previously thought irreconcilable: uniting urban with rural, contemporary and traditional, chicha and rock. Lead vocalist Julio Perez, states their work aims to present the invisible side of Peruvian reality and make it visible; by singing with/through the country’s marginalized voices. The following video clip demonstrates this through one of La Sarita’s most emblematic songs:

"Guachimán or Huachimán" inspired by the 'guachis' of Residencial San Felipe, and in tribute to all guachimanes of the country Guachimán at the Centro Cultural La Noche de Barranco:. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WGG71-p3TY&feature=related

La Sarita, provides ‘an offering’ of faith which is irreverent, transgressive, both sweetand harmonious, looking for the encounter, through social justice and the reconciliation of artificially opposed domains. Their art is born in (& it is a product

Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad. Nº5. Año 5. Vol. 4: 1-27, 2009 www.interculturalidad.org

of) what Mary Louise Pratt2 calls The Contact Zones, which “to refer to social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power, such as colonialism, or their aftermaths as they are lived out in many parts of the world today.” (Pratt, 1999) Songs such as Mamacha Simona or Taqi Oncoy invite us into ‘imaginary spaces’ where differences, similarities, inequalities, latitudes are sensed, and recognized. Sacred spaces where we meet, cry and unite to welcome & acknowledge our secret narratives, and sacred dances. These songs are rich in literate forms of the contact zone as well, (Pratt, 1999) they brings us: oral tradition, bilingualism, transculturation, mediation, denunciation. Thus enabling us to engage in a dialogic relationship with worlds previously in permanent collision, allowing us to foresee sincere ways to share spaces -- in mutual affection by actively practicing in a culture of peace. Their work achieves an unquestionable musical and performatic balance, demonstrating awareness of mutual respect, plain love for the other & desire for diverse integration, notion often alien to those who believe that integration is solely synonymous with homogeneity. I recommend Peruvians from different generations to listen and review the musical PROPUESTA of La Sarita. Then, perhaps we might all start speaking this language of dedication and love for the country. This new speech -- including & involving -- all of us … without distinction.

THE AGENDA OF LA SARITA IN FINLAND. “ I believe that a visit by a Peruvian rock band to Finland can be useful for global democratization.” Citation from article, published in the webmagazine of the Network Institute for Global Democratization. http://www.nigd.org/rendezvous-with-nigd/la-sarita-project/why-a-visit-by-a-peruvian-rockband-to-finland-can-be-useful-for-global-democratization

Mary Louise Pratt, Arts of the Contact Zone, Ways of Reading, 5th edition, ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petroksky (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999) Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad. Nº5. Año 5. Vol. 4: 1-27, 2009 www.interculturalidad.org

La Sarita started in Lima, Peru in 1998, founded by Julio Luyo Pérez and Martin Choy Tarazona. The name 'La Sarita' comes from the holy blessed "Sarita Colonia" the popular symbol of faith, she is the saint of the poor, the dispossessed and of the Andean migrants3 (the ones that migrate crossing no international borders.) Their sound reflects alternative hard rock merged with Latin rhythms, traditional Peruvian music, chicha, and Afro-Peruvian music. La Sarita has a wave of underground followers throughout Latin America. Their songs express themes about social injustice, political corruption, environmental and natural eco-system destruction. They sing stories of the everyday life of ordinary people in countries of Central and South America, with the message of hope and desire for a better world. However their music also reflect ‘pachanga’ and party moods, with great melodies. One moment their music is tough & ' in your face' then can be melodic and party-like. In addition to playing throughout Peru, La Sarita has been invited to perform in other countries such as Finland where they broke the barrier of language and ‘rocked’ the Finns. They have also played at rock festivals in Salvador Bahia, Brazil, "Rock In The Park 2000" in Colombia, in Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador and all around Peru. La Sarita has shared stage with bands such as, Molotov, Enanitos Verdes, Aterciopelados, Manu Chau, Los Prisioneros, La Cuca, Los Pericos, to name a few. La Sarita has 3 CD productions and its next album will be released in February 2009. Integrantes de La Sarita --- 2009 Marino Marcacuzco Demers Ramirez Henri Condori Dante Oliveros Julio Salaverry Carlos Saire Raúl Curo Paul Paredes Renato Briones Martin Choy Tarazona Carlos Claro Julio Pérez Luyo

Andean Violin Flute, guitar Andean Harp Percussion Danzaq Danzaq Andean Harp Keyboard Bass Guitarist Battery Vocals

Peru’s has a long history of internal migration. During the 1980s there was a huge wave of migrants who fled from the Andes to the coast due to political violence. Thousands of families abandoned their homes in the southern highlands and became to be called desplazados. In her essay called Chaqwa, Robin Kirk, explains how these large number of desplazados were invisible to coastal Peruvians who denied that the war had left a human cost. The desplazados became great devotees of Sarita Colonia. She became then, not only the saint of the poor but of & the dispossessed. Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad. Nº5. Año 5. Vol. 4: 1-27, 2009 www.interculturalidad.org

Final Words There is a reason to say what I feel don’t ask me why .... It is just what I feel … Lyrics Mamacha Simona- La Sarita.

Generations of young Peruvians are already constructing new ways of living, new ways of thinking and re-thinking answers to questions such as “Who are we, as Peruvians?” and “Where are we going as a nation?” New generations are increasingly inclined to accept all our voices & ethnicities and they propose without fear a definition of citizenship less unidimensional, less constrictive. Maybe they have learned to feel/understand Peru from a variety of perspectives, as anthropologist Renato Rosaldo4 says “from a number of positions rather that being locked into any particular one.” Peru is a country diverse in its colors, its sounds, its flavors, its geography. This is how we have always been, and ‘these’ new generations have learned that reality can be harsh, that war is not an option, and that we are not only capable of accepting each other as equal, but that we can fearlessly enjoy the benefits of our diversity. La Sarita reflects that national trend. They have managed (I think) with patience, tender affection, and above all with respect for all others 'the ones which at other times might have been thought as the other ‘to create this new language of inclusion and harmony -- in the midst of chaos. This is in great part their contribution.

Cariñito – Grupo La Sarita http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEylvCzJU6U

Lyrics and music by Anibal Rosado (Grupo Celeste) Musical arrangements by La Sarita.

Rosaldo, Renato Culture & Truth: The remaking of social analysis (Boston: Beacon Press 1989) Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad. Nº5. Año 5. Vol. 4: 1-27, 2009 www.interculturalidad.org

Photography Luis H. Figueroa http://decisivomomento.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

Bibliographical References Bakhtin, M. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, ed. Michael Holquist, trans. Caryl Emerson & Michael Holquist (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981)

Pratt, Mary, Arts of the Contact Zone, Ways of Reading, 5th edition, ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petroksky (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999)

Rosaldo, Renato Culture & Truth: The remaking of social analysis (Boston: Beacon Press1989) Starn, Degregori & Kirk The Peru reader (Durham: Duke University Press, 1995)

Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad. NÂş5. AĂąo 5. Vol. 4: 1-27, 2009 www.interculturalidad.org

Photo Gallery “A photograph is always invisible, it is not it that -- we see.” Roland Barthes

El profeta y los danzaq

Photograph by Carlos Diaz http://www.o-jj-o.blogspot.com/ Visual Anthropology, Documentary www.limafotolibre.com Contact him at: diazh.carlos@yahoo.com http://www.myspace.com/ojjofoto

Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad. Nº5. Año 5. Vol. 4: 1-27, 2009 www.interculturalidad.org

Julio Perez Luyo

- Lead Vocalist

Photo by Patricia Cabrera Lopez

Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad. NÂş5. AĂąo 5. Vol. 4: 1-27, 2009 www.interculturalidad.org

Photo by Patricia Cabrera Lopez

Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad. NÂş5. AĂąo 5. Vol. 4: 1-27, 2009 www.interculturalidad.org

Photography by Luis H. Figueroa http://decisivomomento.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

Photo art and photo credits have been included if they were able to locate. All images are used for educational purposes only. Cómo citar este artículo: Yataco, Miryam. La Sarita: Art born in the contact zones. Peruvian Rock Fusion Band. Revista Electrónica Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad, Año 5, Nº5, vol. 4: 1-27. 2009. Disponible en: http://www.interculturalidad.org/numero05/docs/0305-La_Sarita_Peruvian_rock_fusionYataco,Miryam.pdf

Construyendo Nuestra Interculturalidad. Nº5. Año 5. Vol. 4: 1-27, 2009 www.interculturalidad.org