By José Gandue @spinning zone
Oh, Gandour, you're complaining absurdly again! Haven't you noticed that Bogotá hosts concerts every week with the world's top artists, and very few of them haven't performed here? Haven't you seen how the festivals in the park have impressive attendance figures, bringing together international groups that everyone likes? Haven't you noticed, Mr. Gandour, that even in the clubs of Chapinero and its surroundings, avant-garde bands are hosted every weekend, bands that are reviewed in such prestigious spaces as Pitchfork, NME or TimeOut, among others? Aren't you happy, buddy, to have seen New Order and NIN, two of your favorite bands, live on a stage just a few blocks from your house? Haven't you noticed that the vinyl market is booming, and what's released one day in London, New York, and Tokyo, you can buy the next day for a quarter of a minimum wage in some trendy shop in the Zona Rosa? Don't you recognize that some of the most renowned experts in the first-world music industry come here all the time to enlighten us with their wisdom and give us advice on how to reach the big stages in North America and Europe? You're an ungrateful blind man, Mr. Gandour. You are a bitter person.
Everything said in the previous paragraph is true. It is evident and undeniably true, except for the part about resentment, I hope. Bogotá enjoys more massive music shows than ever before. Franchises of festivals like Primavera Sound and Lollapalooza (whatever their name) have a strong presence in the city And thousands of people have been buying their tickets through bank loans since the first day the box office opened. On the other hand, the festivals organized by the Mayor's office attract so many people that when they take a drone photo during rush hour, the Simón Bolívar park is packed to the brim. In other words, No one denies that Bogota residents want to consume music and attend concerts organized by both private companies and public entities. And we're not here to propose a veto or censor cultural initiatives. That would be ridiculous. But…
In March 2012, Bogotá was declared a Creative City of Music by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). We have already mentioned this on several occasions over the years. This is one of the few cities on the planet that has received that title. This recognition was supposedly justified by the efforts of the Colombian capital to support artistic activities throughout its geographical area and promote local talent. Well, eleven years later, the marquees of auditoriums and venues are plastered with announcements (Kraftwerk is coming, Alicia Keys is coming, Blur is coming, Rosalía is coming, Drake is coming, Pope Francis's illegitimate daughter is coming, and with her, a hologram of Queen Elizabeth II will play the ukulele)., But it's all for the same audience, who have the money to buy tickets or to confidently go into debt to attend the shows. It's a minority, and to be more precise, it's a complete minority that can't even fill a stadium three times over in a city of almost nine million inhabitants. The product these entrepreneurs offer is aspirational. Knowing this, they sell it (and that's the slogan of one of their festivals) as a «"different world", a fictitious paradise made for an economic elite to whom "an experience" is offered that in many cases, in a filtered and sometimes not so disguised way, It's about enjoying world sounds far from poor, dusty masses. In addition, a very high percentage of the Bogota-based groups and artists invited to these events have unfavorable schedules. And they are not paid because, as those in charge say, the money they will receive from the Society of Authors is enough to warrant additional compensation. It's a favor that local musicians should be grateful for, so there shouldn't be any reason to complain. Finally, regarding this matter, as things stand, The most active of the organizing companies belongs in its majority to a Mexican conglomerate that is least interested in motivating the presence and good treatment of the capital's representatives in its competitions.
Okay, any of you could argue at this point that the mission of transforming Bogotá into a true hub of musical expansion for all its inhabitants and promoting the local scene from its roots, with the subsequent growth of the consumer public across all social strata of the city, doesn't fall to the private sector. We could waste a lot of time discussing corporate responsibility and all that, but I'll avoid that argument today, and perhaps bring it up another day. Let's talk then about the cultural entities of the State at the capital level. And that's where I ask you a question: how many of you know that the District Institute of the Arts (Idartes), This entity, belonging to the city's Mayor's Office, has a larger budget than the one allocated to the Colombian Ministry of Culture? Great for Bogota residents, right? Uhhhh…. After seeing the results, I would question all that joy.
I, and I've said it too many times, and excuse my foolishness, I believe that public cultural entities are there to promote and support active participants in the artistic reality of the city. The rest is the icing on the cake. I insist that Idartes has dedicated itself to the easiest and most ephemeral part of its functions, that of being an event promoter, and has long since abandoned its main task, which should be to sustain a true cultural industry that makes Bogotá a great center of art and music, respected throughout the world (How pretentious and pompous you are, Mr. Gandour!Bogotá deserves and needs to be a stable point of reference for global order., based on what it can produce and not only on what it can exhibit in its limited settings. Idartes boasts about bringing hundreds of thousands of people to see Juanes, Wilfrido Vargas, and Miranda! for free, as if their job were anything other than paying the required fees for these acts, putting them on a stage, opening the park gates, and letting everyone in. They know they'll fill the place, but for them, it's a great curatorial effort, a blessing for our eyes and ears with such a gift. And the next day, nothing happens.
A supposed World Capital of Music should at least to ensure a circuit of presentations in all their neighborhoods so that every week the residents, paying or not, can witness the growth of the talent of their cultural representatives. The city's state authorities should have their own radio and television stations to promote these arts. The mayor should include a budget allocation for this purpose in the city's general budget. to advertise and promote the latest releases from local artists on digital platforms. It should use its District Arts Institute to open windows for projects of sufficient quality to be widely exhibited, provide the tools for press coverage, and guarantee their right to exhibition. It would be good if each neighborhood in Bogotá had at least one recording studio supervised by local authorities with the necessary conditions so that, with a soft loan, bands and solo artists who want to register their songs have the opportunity to be heard by audiences in their locality and around the world. Music is part of the economy, and it can be an important factor in job creation, foreign exchange growth, and, in addition, in creating a better social climate in the capital. That's the cultural industry, my friends, not the sterile aerial photograph capturing the crowd cheering for a star who will say «"Thank you Bogotá, you are the best audience I have ever had in my life!". That image only serves to inflate their egos and for personal anecdotes on social media.
Anyway, please excuse this very long speech, but that's how things are. Bogotá, and more than one of you will find what I'm about to say absurd, It deserves to have the musical level of Berlin, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and other major population centers of the planet., But that's not achieved simply by attracting big names to whom only a small portion of the public has access. It's not enough to be just another point of sale on the map of major agencies in Los Angeles or New York. The aim is to create a truly inclusive, supportive, and internal market capable of effectively representing our city in a few years. It's not enough to be perpetual opening acts for the main show. We've been lazy and resigned, and we've swallowed too much nonsense from so-called experts who spend their time at industry trade shows talking about how great we are and our potential., when the reality is different.
