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Film short abstract:

The film shows diverse musical practices of indigenous musicians from the Ecuadorian Andes, emphasising the circulations of people, sounds, ideas and objects and the ways these circulations shape their contemporary practices.

Film long abstract:

Throughout five parts, each of them focusing on one musician or one band of musicians, the film shows diverse musical practices of indigenous musicians from the region of Otavalo, in the Ecuadorian Andes (such as performances in local festivities and on festival stages, recording practices, performances of different genres from different places). It emphasises the circulations of people, sounds, ideas and objects and the ways these circulations shape the contemporary practices of Otavalo indigenous musicians. In this way, several topics that are fundamental in the contemporary everyday life of indigenous people are addressed through image and sound, such as migration, urbanisation, influence/re-appropriation of globalised ideas and objects, the use of technology, the revalorisation and performance of a local ‘culture’.

Many Otavalo indigenous people have migrated to Europe and North America, mainly since the 1980s, to sell their handicrafts and to play Andean music in the streets. They have also depended heavily on tourism in Otavalo town, which is home to an important craft market. In this context of migration and relationship with tourists, the presentation of self as culturally different has been at stake. With this in mind, the film also shows several ways of revalorising ‘traditional’ musical practices and of merging the latter with sounds, genres, ideas and objects from other Latin American regions and the northern hemisphere.