Lullabies for an Other Nation

Abstract

The lullabies that Gamaliel Churata includes in his work, the eyrays, show us the essential form of his mythical family, the mermaid of the Titikaka, the puma and the golden fish, in the recreation of an intimacy that is at the same time aesthetic and politics. In this paper I would like to reflect on a creation that recuperates the domestic forms of singing, establishes tenderness as a fundamental feeling, proposes a place of enunciation without marked gender, connects with other expressive practices such as Andean textiles and re-signifies the conception of childhood. These songs present a mixed language, accompanied by onomatopoeias and murmurs, which manifest a playful and loving function. In they, Andean cultures are expressed from the intimate universe and articulated in a language of affection.