When the first cases of Covid-19 were reported in Colombia, knowing what the virus had caused in other countries, strict quarantine and social distancing measures were taken, and citizen meeting places and popular events scheduled for the following months were closed. In Bogotá, it was more than logical, the celebration of all the festivals in the Park (Rock, Hip Hop, Jazz, Colombia and Salsa) was suspended during 2020. On March 31, when the decision was not yet official, Zonagirante.com joined the media outlets that would support the measure, and, at the same time, He proposed a series of strategies to prevent the local music scene from collapsing, warning that the artists, being mostly independent professionals, They were going to be disadvantaged by the rampant lack of protection from public and private institutions.
A few days later, we were invited to a virtual meeting held by a group of musicians who had been trying for some time to create an association to address the problems they, as members of the cultural community, were already experiencing firsthand. At this meeting, while calculating the cost of each of the free festivals organized by the Mayor's Office of Bogotá, I told them that this budget would be more than enough to, starting in June, through, as always, a public call open to the city's talent, put together at least 120 virtual concerts, with all the professional conditions required, at the Jorge Eliecer Gaitán Theater, paying participants the rate applied to district representatives during Rock al Parque in 2019. 120 concerts that, Furthermore, they offered the possibility of further positioning the Colombian capital as a prominent point of music in the world in all its complexity. The idea, for A, B, C reasons, didn't interest the meeting participants. They were entangled in the formation of a union, a cooperative, and other collective action models, and, in my view, they weren't understanding what was coming. Perhaps naively, I thought that something similar would occur to them at the District Institute of the Arts (Idartes), the entity responsible for organizing these types of concerts in Bogotá. You know, I recently learned that several of those who participated in the virtual meeting at the beginning of the pandemic recently approached the mayor's office to warn them that there were thousands of musicians and support staff who, because of everything that was happening here and around the world, were with their families, experiencing extreme hardship due to a lack of opportunities. They were asking for food assistance to sustain themselves until the stages reopened and music returned to the city. There was nothing for them.
It is assumed, and we have said this from this space many times, that Idartes, Even though throughout its history it has made decisions that we do not agree with, it has always He demonstrated that his proposals were within the framework of citizen participation, surrounded by a democratic spirit. Each time there was a festival in the park, public calls were opened in which hundreds and thousands of participants were received daily, hoping to be selected in each edition of any of the contests. It is important to remember that these kinds of events are done with state money, mostly from the taxes of everyone who lives in this city. It was not possible to act as a private businessman freely does, deciding what he wants about his money, seeking his ultimate economic benefit.
Starting with the quarantine, Idartes began launching contests of a particular nature in which it invited people to present material made at home during the quarantine. These competitions, apart from alleviating the financial strain on a few, did nothing to save the structure of a scene that was collapsing. Auditoriums, recording studios, rehearsal rooms, music stores—meeting points for a community that, until the beginning of this year, were presented in official advertisements as sources of pride for the Colombian capital—were closed. Yes, because when we talk about the City Brand, Bogotá is presented as one of the most important musical centers on the planet, and we boast about everything that has happened in the arts in recent years. But, whether due to ignorance, laziness, greed or negligence, the Mayor's office has not firmly demonstrated that this matters to them or that it bothers them.
And, to top it all off, Idartes brings Music from the Park to your home, a kind of imitation they expect, with a little over twenty concerts that have been broadcast since October 17, with many problems in its conception and of no importance to the local scene. A kind of whimsical diversion by its curator, with the permission of the institution's management, where all the established patterns from previous years are broken and where little of the money invested in this festival will remain in the city, at a time of great difficulty.
Let's take it one step at a time:
–At no point was a call opened for proposals from Bogota to be submitted., They were hoping to be selected to represent the city in an event funded with public money. The selection was made by a small group of people who, without ever explaining their criteria, acted independently, violating basic principles of this type of competition.
–More than half of the participants do not reside in Bogotá. In other words, during one of the toughest times for the capital's music scene, we invested the money meant for those activities in hiring outside artists. No one is suggesting we close the door to proposals from other parts of the world, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this isn't exactly the time to focus on our own talent and truly promote what we call "City Brand." We adore Lido Pimienta; we believe that Miss Colombia, her latest album, is one of the best albums of the year worldwide. We love what La Muchacha from Manizales does, but we could have waited for better days to invest public funds in her performances. And the same goes for foreign acts.
-The selection of Bogota artists is very strange and does not represent what has been happening in the capital's scene in recent years. By refusing to hold traditional competitions, we won't be showcasing the current musical identity of the city. (Besides, guys, did you really have to hire Fonseca and Vives? Seriously? At what price? How frivolous!)
-And finally, I'll get a little technical on this pointThe governments of the most progressive countries have understood that in times of pandemic, they must prevent the fall in domestic consumption., because that would increase social inequality and cause a significant portion of the population to fall into the lowest strata of the economy. That's why they're opening support plans for small and medium-sized enterprises. They support the most disadvantaged sectors with financing and soft loans. If an entity like Idartes has several billion pesos to organize events, in the midst of this crisis, You must ensure that the money you invest in these activities stays in the city., because that investment would circulate among the pockets of the close circles of the artists and hired technical staff, and would reach, sooner or later, the other sectors of the city.
And yes, the truth is that Music from the Park to Your Home It looks like an expensive frivolity, an extravagance without much justification, done with its back to the city and its local music scene. The opportunity to sustain a growing community has been lost, and it is now unknown to the government of its own city.
