MEMORIA DEL FORO: 1er [PREMIER] FESTIVAL NUEVO CANTO LATINOAMERICANO, Abril 1982, Ciudad De Mexico CREA, UNESCO, INBA, FONAPAS, CASA DE LAS AMERICAS

[FORUM REPORT: 1st [PREMIER] NEW LATIN AMERICAN SONG FESTIVAL, April 1982, Mexico City]

In Mexico City between March 30 and April 5, 1982, the First Festival of Canto Nuevo was held at the National Auditorium in collaboration with UNESCO and Casa de las Américas. It was an important music festival promoting the New Song Movement, Protest Music and early World Music, and is considered a significant multi cultural event in Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean. This is the very rare report (limited to only 1000 copies) issued by the organizers.

Published by the Planning Directorate and the Dissemination Department of the Promotion and Social Communication Directorate of CREA, Mexico City. First (and only) edition, September 1982. The print run was 1,000 copies (from the colophon). Softcover, printed paper wrappers, 11" x 8.25", 168 pages. Text in Spanish. VERY GOOD Condition: The covers have scraping to the spine margins, shelf/corner wear and some creasing but remain bright and clean, internally just a touch of age, otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked. Scarce.

The Nueva Canción (New Song) Movement in Mexico, also known as Canto Nuevo, was a musical and cultural phenomenon rooted in the broader Latin American and Caribbean Nueva Canción movement. It emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s as a response to social and political issues, using music as a tool for social commentary, cultural preservation and the fight against authoritarian regimes. The genre is distinguished by Latin folk sounds, traditional Indigenous instruments, and lyrics that highlight social injustices, specifically the exploitation of workers, dictatorships, and authoritarianism. Due to political lyrics and the desire to provoke social change, the government censored many artists who were part of the movement. Some musicians faced exile, torture, or death by right wing dictatorships. The movement was crucial in protesting dictatorship, fascism, and social injustice and cultivating a culture where Indigenous voices and music was heard. A crucial aspect of the Nueva canción genre is that many songs were influenced by Mexican corrido, narrative songs about history, oppression, vaquero life and lamenting the fascist occupation of their county.

Festival Participants included: ARGENTINA - César Isella; CUBA - Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola; MEXICO - Los Folkloristas, Me caì, Onta, Amparo Ochoa, Nachón, Gabino Palomares, Foro, M. Alejandro; PERU - Nicomedes Santa Cruz; URUGUAY - Daniel Viglietti; BRAZIL - Manduka; CHILE - Quilapayun; NICARAGUA - Carlos Mejía Godoy and Los Palacaguna, Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy and Grupo Mancotal; PUERTO RICO - Roy Brown; VENEZUELA - Ali Primera and Lilia Vera; EL SALVADOR - Yolocamba I Ta

From the Introduction:

"In April 1982, the First Festival and Forum of New Latin American Song was held in Mexico City. It brought together the most representative exponents from various countries of our continent, both in the performance and composition as well as in the theoretical aspects of this new musical genre, which is gaining greater importance every day in the cultural sphere of America. CREA, FONAPAS, and the INBA, with the collaboration of UNESCO and the Casa de las Américas, held this event to support and promote this youth movement to reconquer and strengthen the cultural expressions of our peoples. With this objective and the purpose of continuing the work this compilation of the material gathered during the Forum has been prepared. It highlights the different positions held by the best ethnomusicologists of Latin America regarding New Song."