Bogotá, Colombia (La Calandria)

Learning about the city and the history behind its existence was important to understand why people use the arts as a form of resistance. The mixture of diversity of the country that made it rich in knowledge but is one of the big problems with the country as well. This often bleeds into the diversity of musical genres throughout the country. The bio-diversity with the country is something that makes Colombia a rich place, but it caused a lot of division between different parts of the country due to the Andes, which made communication hard and forced separation between them and allowed corruption to happen.

            Visiting the Museo Claustro D San Agustín was really impactful for me because it is a place that houses photos and documents that captures pivotal moments in Colombia’s history. Which are needed because without documentation or record of these moments they would be brushed under the rug and silenced. Which would allow for the continuation of destruction to these diverse communities. But with these tangible pieces of oppression people are able to speak to the injustice and this is often done through protest and artistic expression, which allows them to fight for their rights and reinforce their culture and not let the powers at play dictate the way they should live and express themselves to align with the ideologies of those powers.

            For me meeting LAP 24/7, which are a musical group was really cool and impactful for me and I had a great time listening to their music. Being able to hear their stories and gain an understanding of the struggles of people who are victims of the violence go through was really powerful. In the cases of Juan and Andres they were able to make it out of their hard situations using music as a tool to facilitate that. The way they use their life experiences to curate music that is critical of their environment I think is an important part of resistance to show people that their stories and struggles won’t be silenced. This shows other kids like themselves that there is another option and that they don’t have to fall into the traps of the streets (drugs/ gangs). Their use of Hip-Hop in combination of their lyrics is very powerful, captivating and make their mission even more inspiring.