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UNESCO » Culture » Intangible Heritage » Lists » Traditional Vallenato music of the Greater Magdalena region

Nomination file No. 01095

Decision

Inscription: 10.COM 10.a.2

Periodic reporting

Submitting State has to report every 4 years after the inscription of an element on the Urgent Safeguarding List. Read more on periodic reports.

Traditional Vallenato music of the Greater Magdalena region

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Inscribed in 2015 (10.COM) on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding

Traditional Vallenato music fuses cultural expressions from northern Colombia, the songs of cow-herders of the Greater Magdalena region and the chants of African slaves with the traditional dance rhythms of the indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. These expressions are also blended with Spanish poetry and musical instruments of European derivation. The lyrics of traditional Vallenato music interpret the world through stories that mix realism and fantasy, expressed through songs that are nostalgic, joyful, sarcastic and humorous. Traditional instruments include a small drum played with the hands, a wooden ribbed stick played with a wire comb, and an accordion. Traditional Vallenato music falls into four main rhythms or beats known as airs, each of which has a distinctive rhythmic pattern. Traditional Vallenato music is performed at Vallenato music festivals and crucially at parrandas where friends and family gather, thus playing a crucial role in building a regional shared identity. It is also transmitted by teaching in formal academic settings. The element faces a number of risks to its viability, however, notably the armed conflict in Colombia fuelled by drug trafficking. In addition, a new wave of Vallenato is marginalizing traditional Vallenato music and diminishing its role in social cohesion. Lastly, the use of street spaces for Vallenato parrandas is declining, removing a crucial space for intergenerational transfer of musical knowledge.

Old accordion, one of the first that was introduced in the Colombian Caribbean region
Vallenato singer
The guitar still gives its chords to make traditional vallenato airs and one can hear romantic versions of it played by the bearers of the tradition
Traditional musician
Traditional musician, José Villafañe Álvarez
Party at Guatapiri river
Traditional musician, Omar Geles
Traditional musician, Hugo Carlos Granados, three times winner in the most important festival of Vallenato in Colombia
Traditional boy musician, Antoni Maya
Virgen del Rosario Peregrination
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