Latin American World Music Festival
Image: Hugo Leal and Patricio Espinoza from Pukara.
Photo: Chris Peken
BY JAMIE APPS
In the wake of recent clashes between different cultures and communities, it will be a pleasant change to see a celebratory blending of cultures this weekend for the Latin American World Music Festival in Chippendale. This will be the first time the festival arrives in Sydney after its debut last year only took place in Melbourne and Perth.
Hosted by Stories We Tell Inc. and supported by both the Argentinian Embassy and University of Sydney, this event will encourage exploration and exchanges between the Latin American community, the Aboriginal community and the wider Australian community.
Headlining the festival is the widely respected and iconic world music figure Jaime Torres and his Quintet. Hugo Leal is a local musician who will be supporting Torres on Saturday with his band, Pukara, who perform a fusion between traditional Andean music, original song and contemporary Latin music.
Leal described Jaime as “an icon in Latin America”, adding that it is “a real honour for us [Pukara] to be asked to play as a supporting act”. Argentinian ambassador Pedro Villagra Delgado echoed these sentiments, saying “Jaime is one of the best Charango (a traditional South American ukulele) players in the world and has a following around the world from Latin America, the United States and Europe.”
One of the most interesting aspects of the event is the cultural fusion that the organisers have planned, with Jaime Torres and his band taking the stage with some of Australia’s best Aboriginal musicians––William Barton in Sydney, and Archie Roach in Melbourne.
The indigenous cultures of both Latin America and Australia have much in common––both having faced invasion and colonisation, and continuing struggles with access to land and education. Events like this are a wonderful means by which to unite cultures and individuals.
“We are bringing together the traditional instruments of both cultures to generate a cultural exchange between indigenous communities while exploring the musicality of the instruments,” explained event organiser Rafael Baro. “We’re using music as a universal language which allows this profound exchange of cultural identities to strengthen the rich diversity and stories that the cultures have in common.”
For the Latin American community in Australia, this is an extremely rare opportunity to experience their home culture in a live setting. Pedro Villagra Delgado explained that “many of the 10-15,000 Argentinian’s that live in Australia came here quite early in the 60s and 70s”, so this is a chance for them to share their heritage with their descendants born in Australia.
Local Latin American artists are extremely excited by the event, as they feel it will only make an already strong local scene even stronger. “We played a show at the Bryan Brown Theatre in Bankstown recently to a full house,” said Hugo Leal. “So events like this will make the scene even stronger by increasing exposure and getting more people involved.”
Without the support of the Argentinian Embassy this event would simply not have been possible for Rafael Baro and his not-for-profit organisation, Stories We Tell Inc. “They [the embassy] are very committed and have supported this project from the beginning, they supplied the airfares for Jaime and his band and also helped to promote the event, so we value their support very highly,” Baro said.
For the Argentinian Embassy, getting involved with this event was an easy decision. “Obviously we love to promote Argentinian artists and events. From events like this to film festivals and tango events,” said Ambassador Villagra Delgado. “We also work closely with the 12 other Latin American embassies here to co-promote lots of other events that promote our culture and region to Australia.”
Looking towards the future, both Rafael Baro and Pedro Villagra Delgado share a common hope for the Latin American World Music Festival to become an annual celebration. “It would be great if this could become an annual attraction, the biggest question is whether we can source appropriate artists, and certainly if we can we would be very happy to make that happen,” said Villagra Delgado.
Baro added: “Not only do we want to make this an annual showcase in Australia, but we want to also establish a bridge between Australia and South America that travels both ways.”
Nov 28. Seymour Centre, Corner of City Rd and Cleveland St, Chippendale. $30-55. Tickets and Info: seymourcentre.com/events/event/jaime-torres or call 02 9351 7940
