Sacred Songs and Decolonial Collective Voices from Elvira Espejo Ayca's Voice. Kirki Qhañi. Petaca de las poéticas andinas (2022)

• Published in: Bolivian Studies Journal
• Main Author: Sánchez Gutiérrez, Adriana
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Spanish
• Published: University of Pittsburgh, University Library System 2022
• Subjects: Collective voices; decolonial process; rites; sacred voices; Ceremonias; procesos descoloniales; voz colectiva; voz sagrada; Aymara; Inca; Kirki; Martina; sami
• Online Access: http://bsj.pitt.edu/ojs/bsj/article/view/279; https://doi.org/10.5195/bsj.2022.279

This article-interview with the poet Elvira Espejo Ayca discusses the process of recovering the sacred songs of the Aymara and Quechua indigenous communities through the oral tradition from her grandmother Gregoria Mamani and her great-great-grandmother Martina Pumala. The song-poems preserve Inca meanings and aesthetics that the indigenous people used during Colonization to maintain good relations with the Spanish domain and, in turn, mask those referring to the Inca deities. Some songs have been taken up to unravel the lyrical resources of colonial times and recreate the original songs of the ancestors with the community of Kurmi Wasi School in Bolivia, a musical production that was recorded under the name of Sami Kirki in 2018, which was included in the last Espejo’s book Kirki Qhañi (2022). Este artículo-entrevista a la poeta Elvira Espejo Ayca aborda el proceso de recuperación de cantos sagrados de las comunidades indígenas aymara y quechua a través de la tradición oral de su abuela Gregoria Mamani y su tatarabuela Martina Pumala. Los cantos-poemas conservan significados y estéticas incas que los indígenas utilizaron durante la Colonización para mantener buenas relaciones con el dominio español y, a su vez, enmascarar referencias a las deidades incas. Se han retomado algunas canciones para desentrañar los recursos líricos de la época colonial y recrear las canciones originales de los ancestros con la comunidad de la escuela Kurmi Wasi en Bolivia, producción musical que fue grabada bajo el nombre de Sami Kirki en 2018, la cual ha sido incluida en el último poemario de Espejo, Kirki Qhañi (2022).