A través de las tecnologías sónicas callejeras, las comunidades forjan identidad, reclaman el derecho a la autorrepresentación y construyen lazos de pertenencia y solidaridad. Bailar se vuelve un acto político cuando cuestiona quién tiene derecho al espacio público. Tocar música también es político, cuando afirma el derecho a ser escuchado, impulsa la movilidad social y […]
Through sonic street technologies, communities forge identity, claim the right to self-representation, and build bonds of belonging and solidarity. Dancing becomes political when it questions the right to public space. Playing music is political too, when it asserts the right to be heard, sparks social mobility, and embodies the aspiration to reclaim dignity through culture for […]
Como base de la cultura musical popular del Caribe colombiano, los picós ocupan diversos espacios dentro de la industria musical local. Mientras que el formato tradicional turbo sigue vivo y vibrante, algunos picós han evolucionado de manera constante a lo largo de las décadas: desde equipos artesanales que animaban celebraciones familiares hasta superestructuras tecnológicas capaces […]
As the foundation of popular music culture in the Colombian Caribbean, picós occupy diverse spaces within the local music industry. While the traditional turbo format remains alive and vibrant, some picós have steadily evolved over the decades—from handmade setups lighting up family celebrations to state-of-the-art technological superstructures capable of entertaining thousands of devoted followers. In […]
La patrimonialización de las tecnologías sonoras callejeras es una cuestión cada vez más relevante. Más allá del prestigio cultural, el reconocimiento como patrimonio es frecuentemente percibido por los y las practicantes como una herramienta estratégica para respaldar las negociaciones en curso sobre el acceso al espacio público,
The patrimonialization of sonic street technologies is an increasingly prominent issue across the Global South. Beyond questions of cultural prestige, heritage recognition is often viewed by practitioners as a strategic tool to support ongoing negotiations over access to public space, curfew regulations, and to counter the persistent stigmatization of these sonic cultures. At the same […]
With this first blog of 2025, the SST Goldsmiths team reflects on the achievements and challenges of the past year. Research-wise, we find ourselves in a strong position, having accomplished many objectives and successfully completed numerous tasks. This progress is largely thanks to the enthusiasm and hard work of our global team of researchers and […]
One distinctive feature of Colombian picó culture is its strong visual identity. A previous blog provided insights into poster-making techniques and the various trends associated with the Caribbean cities that serve as strongholds of this culture. In this week’s blog, researcher Manuel Nieves delves into the art of painting sound systems, explaining the cultural significance […]
The picó is the sonic street technology local to the Colombian Caribbean. One important feature of picó culture is its strong visual identity. The distinctive flamboyant colors and handmade lettering adorning both sound systems and dance posters are hand crafted by local artists who have created a unique graphic style. This is not a mere […]
Besides screening our films for participants, touring them within the country is also a valuable part of the research process. From an international perspective Columbia or Brazil might appear as a single nation, but of course they are made up of different states, each with their own geographies, climates and music cultures. Great distances and […]
Una rama importante de la investigación de SST en Colombia se concentra en Urabá, en el noroeste del país. Desde el 2021, el colectivo Urabá Sound System está luchando por el reconocimiento del picó (el sistema de sonido autóctono del Caribe colombiano) como una herramienta comunitaria poderosa para fomenter la cohesión social, facilitando el proceso […]
The first 2024 blog provides the opportunity to reflect on last year’s achievements and challenges. Starting out on the SST project four years ago we were most familiar with reggae sound systems, based on team members’ research knowledge and experience as owners and MCs. We were only dimly aware of other types of sound system. Now, […]
El blog de esta semana continúa la exploración de los recursos SST de Colombia ahora disponibles en nuestro sitio web. Luego de habernos presentado los principales temas y corrientes de investigación existentes sobre los picós y sound system colombianos (ver blog anterior), los curadores de la bibliografía JJ Carbonell y Edgar Benítez nos brindan un comentario […]
This week’s blog continues the exploration of the Colombia SST Resources now available on our website. After having presented us with the main topics and streams of existing research on Colombian picós and sound systems (see previous blog), bibliography curators JJ Carbonell and Edgar Benitez provides us with a very useful commentary on the features, issues […]
Realizar investigaciones de SST literalmente en todo el mundo no es una tarea fácil. Para que el proyecto sea más manejable, hemos identificado países o regiones que albergan escenas de TSM particularmente ricas, sofisticadas, antiguas o no investigadas. Para explorar cada una de estas regiones o países, trabajamos con investigadores y profesionales locales que tienen […]
Doing SST research literally across the globe is not an easy task. To keep the project more manageable we have identified specific countries or regions that are home to particularly rich, sophisticated, long-standing or unresearched SST scenes. To scope out each one of these regions or countries, we work with local researchers and practitioners who have […]
This is the second blog reporting on the early stage of the ongoing SST research in Colombia (read the first one here). Here the focus is on the music – as it is for practitioners, professionals, and aficionados who gravitate in and around picotero culture. The shared passion for the music can prompt change in performance […]
This is the first in a series of blogs documenting the ongoing SST research in Colombia, mainly focused on picó culture. Not claiming to be comprehensive or authoritative, what follows is rather the result of several conversations, meet ups, and explorations that happened over a preliminary research trip in December 2022 aimed precisely at doing […]
Este blog es la segunda iteración de una serie de ensayos fotográficos que documentan las actividades en curso llevadas a cabo por las fuerzas locales en la región colombiana de Urabá con el propósito de preservar, nutrir y mejorar la cultura picotera local que se ha visto gravemente afectada por la violencia estructural y la […]
This blog is the second iteration in a series of photo essays documenting the ongoing activities carried out by local forces in the Colombian region of Urabà with the purpose of preserving, nurturing and enhancing the local picotera culture which has been heavily affected by structural violence and government repression. […]
A unique Colombian SST, the picó consists in one or more large speaker boxes, hosting one or more drivers, beautifully hand-painted with colourful artworks representing the name of each unique set, mainly blasting African music such as soukous, highlife and makossa, among other genres. SST welcomes new bloggers José Camilo Ríos Alarcón and Adriana Alexandra Ayala […]
“Urabá Sound System: Sounding with Purpose” has been an “encuentro picotero” (a picós meeting), held from July the 2nd to July the 4th, 2021 in the Municipality of Apartadó, in Urabá Antioqueño – Colombia. The event included musical and cultural sessions, such as discussions on the context, history and challenges of the picó culture, and a “memory carousel” […]
El encuentro URABÁ SOUNDSYSTEM sonando con propósito, se llevó a cabo los días 2,3 y 4 de julio de 2021 en el Municipio de Apartadó, en el Urabá antioqueño – Colombia. Se realizaron conversatorios sobre el contexto, historia y desafíos de la cultura picotera, un carrusel de la memoria donde se compartieron fotografías, discos, emociones y se produjeron documentos con la intención de demostrar la sistematicidad, pertinencia y eficacia de la práctica picotera como un escenario de construcción de paz. […]