Knowledge Circulation in a Diversified Country

Painting Ecuador Anew

Knowledge Circulation in a Diversified Country

This session gathers a diverse group of Ecuadorian singers, musicians, academics, and activists to discuss the capacity of sounds and embodied movements to circulate knowledge(s) beyond universalised theoretical frameworks that typically locate these sounds and movements on the bottom rung. More specifically, we intend to challenge the “extractivist” tendency of some academic research, as coined by the Bolivian sociologist Rivera Cusicanqui (2015: 89). This refers to cases where knowledge(s) from the Global South have mainly been understood and used as the source of extraction of “raw material” to be exported, processed, and subsequently re-imported as “refined” products, or “truly academic” knowledge. Through brief (6-8 minutes) pre-recorded, collective and performative interventions, several groups of participants creatively approach the context of their work. Their interventions will highlight strategies based on local epistemologies and ontologies that may be used to “interculturally translate” (Sousa Santos, 2010: 57) their knowledge(s) to a broader audience. The proposed session will be tri-lingual (Kichwa-Spanish-English). Subtitles are integrated at times to facilitate a wider understanding and, at the same time, to celebrate the linguistic richness of groups that have been historically excluded from academia.

Among the participating groups are the Colectivo Guangopolo (Guangopolo Collective), Warmishinas Ñuka Trans (Just as Women, We Transexuals) and Sinchi Warmikuna (Strong Women). The three groups will focus on fresh perspectives regarding the circulation of knowledge, emphasizing practices that re-construct, democratize, and strengthen processes of knowledge circulation. On the one hand, the Colectivo Guangopolo will tackle a much-needed re-construction of the circulation of local dances from the elders of the rural town of Guangopolo, including the communities of Rumilona, Sorialoma, and La Toglla (Pichincha province). Their work is inscribed within a context in which folk groups have been pressured to include in their repertoire only dances that are officially recognized as a part of a “national identity.” Historically, a fixed group of dances has been widely recognized as part of an Ecuadorian identity. This group excludes other not-so-well-known dances, such as the ones from Guangopolo.

The folk dance group Warmishinas Ñuca Trans proposes to democratize the circulation of knowledge regarding traditional-festive arts of the Ecuadorian Andes from the point of view of the queer population of Quito, Ecuador’s capital city (Pichincha province). By democratization, they specifically refer to the horizontal circulation of knowledge between academic researchers and this one group. This involves the rejection of power relations that might typically be established in the process of research.

Finally, the female group Sinchi Warmikuna will share their process of circulation of knowledge between Ecuadorian Indigenous women from different Kichwa communities (Kichwa-Otavalo, Kichwa-Caranki, Kichwa-Kayambi, Kichwa-Kutacachi, Kichwa-Puruwa and Kichwa-Waranka; Imbabura, Chimborazo, and Pichincha provinces). They have resisted patriarchy by encouraging women to continue singing according to their ancestral ways of understanding the world - and to share their knowledge with new generations through singing.

Through these three different performative approaches, each group intends to contribute to the decolonization of the study of music and dances while empowering themselves to expose unique perspectives regarding knowledge circulation.

Pintando un Nuevo Ecuador

Circulación de Conocimientos en un País Diversificado

Esta sesión busca reunir un grupo diverso de músicos, cantantes, académicos y activistas ecuatorianos para dialogar acerca del poder de los sonidos y movimientos corporizados en la circulación de conocimientos más allá de marcos teóricos universalizados que casi siempre los colocan en el peldaño más bajo. Proponemos cuestionar la tendencia extractivista de la mayoría de investigaciones académicas, en las cuales, como ha sido propuesto por la socióloga Boliviana Rivera Cusicanqui (2015: 89), los conocimientos del Sur Global han sido entendidos y utilizados más que nada como una fuente de extracción de ‘materia prima’ que es exportada y subsecuentemente re-importada como producto ‘refinado’ o conocimiento ‘verdaderamente académico’. A través de breves intervenciones performativas, colectivas y pre-grabadas (8 a 10 minutos), cada grupo de participantes abordará de manera creativa el contexto de su trabajo, poniendo especial énfasis en generar estrategias basadas en epistemologías y ontologías locales para ‘traducir interculturalmente’ (como es entendido por de Sousa Santos, 2010: 57) sus conocimientos para un publico ampliado. La sesión propuesta será trilingue (Kichwa-Español-Inglés) y con subtítulos para facilitar un mayor entendimiento y además, para celebrar la riqueza linguística de grupos que han sido históricamente excluidos de la academia.

Entre los grupos participantes están el Colectivo Guangopolo, las Warmishinas - Ñuca Trans (Igual que Mujeres, Nosotras Transexuales) y las Sinchi Warmikuna (Mujeres Fuertes). Cada uno de estos tres grupos se enfocará en perspectivas frescas de circulación de conocimiento, con un énfasis especial en su re-construcción, democratización y fortalecimiento. Por un lado, el Colectivo Guangopolo se enfocará en la necesaria re-construcción de la circulación de danzas y bailes locales de los ancianos de la localidad rural de Guangopolo, la cual incluye las comunidades de Rumiloma, Sorialoma y La Toglla (provincia de Pichincha). Su trabajo se desarrolla en un contexto en el cual los grupos folclóricos han sido forzados a incluir en su repertorio exclusivamente aquellas danzas y bailes que son reconocidas como parte oficial de una ‘identidad nacional’. Históricamente, hay un grupo fijo y limitado de danzas y bailes que son reconocidos masivamente como parte de una identidad ecuatoriana, el cual excluye aquellos otros bailes no tan conocidos, tal como los de Guangopolo.

Por otro lado, el grupo folclórico Warmishinas - Ñuca Trans propone una democratización de la circulación del conocimiento alrededor de las artes festivas-tradicionales de los andes ecuatorianos desde el punto de vista de la población queer de Quito, la capital del Ecuador (provincia de Pichincha). Con democratización, ellas específicamente se refieren a la circulación horizontal de conocimientos entre investigadores académicos y el grupo, y por tanto, el rechazo a cualquier relación de poder que pudiese establecerse en un proceso de investigación. Finalmente, el grupo de mujeres Sinchi Warmikuna compartirán su proceso de circulación de conocimientos entre mujeres indígenas ecuatorianas de diferentes comunidades Kichwa (Kichwa-Otavalo, Kichwa-Caranki, Kichwa-Kayambi, Kichwa-Kutacachi, Kichwa-Puruwa and Kichwa-Waranka; provincias de Imbabura, Chimborazo y Pichincha) que han resistido al patriarcado a través de animar y apoyar a mujeres para que sigan cantando sus maneras ancestrales de comprender y relacionarse con el mundo y circular conocimientos a las nuevas generaciones a través de sus cantos. A través de estos tres abordajes performativos, cada grupo pretende contribuir a la descolonización del estudio de músicas y bailes, empoderándose para exponer por ellos y ellas mismas perspectivas únicas de circulación de conocimiento.

Annotated References

We think it is crucial to understand the inequalities that academia has sustained. In this sense, scholars who have been part of long-term processes with historically-excluded groups deserve to be read and heard. The book, Decolonizing Methodologies (2012), by Indigenous scholar of education Linda Tuhiwai Smith, offers a deep analysis on how power structures have directly affected the methodologies scholars use when they research historically-excluded groups. The Bolivian sociologist Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui (2015) also offers deep insight into ways of approaching Indigenous cultures using methodologies proposed by them instead of methodologies proposed by Western academia. Similarly, the Afroecuadorian activist and storyteller Juan García Salazar (2017) contributes a deep understanding of the importance of including human and other-than-human knowledge(s) in any approach to Indigenous cultures.

Reflections

Generally, this session’s participants feel that the opportunity to be part of the ICTM Dialogues has allowed them to reflect on their own practices and learn about Ecuadorian artistic groups with similar views to their own. The participants also feel that, in order to obtain longer term benefits, a longer-term process would need to be established.

Questions to Consider

What are the strategies that music and dance scholars are implementing in their academic research to avoid replicating historical, inequitable power relations – to avoid locating musicians and dancers from the Global South on the bottom rung of the socio-economic order?

How can music and dance scholars facilitate multilingual dialogical spaces, and thereby avoid excluding the great majority of a population that does not speak English?

How can music and dance scholars deeply expand our understanding of diverse ‘ways of knowing’ and transmitting knowledge(s), in ways much beyond conventional academic ways of producing and reproducing knowledge(s)?