“We’re Nobody Without the Other”: Authenticity and Citizenship in a Transnational Andean Music Revival Community

Abstract

Since the 1970s, Latin American cities such as Lima, La Paz, Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Bogotá have witnessed the emergence and development of music scenes focused on the collective interpretation of the Andean Pan flutes known by the aimara name sikus. Despite the fact that most of the participants of these scenes did not grow in family, community or regional contexts in which sikuri musical practices were generationally transferred, today they assume these as their own while adapting their uses and meanings to their own social environments and agendas. Based on several multi-sited fieldwork sessions in the metropolitan Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Bogota scenes, I argue that their growing interconnectedness has given shape to a transnational movement. I also explore the notions of authenticity and respect as mechanisms through which the sikuris negotiate their legitimacy as performers of indigenous Andean music, and conclude that their activities have the potential to transform Latin American identity, culture, and society.