Community music and territorial experiences in Colombia: Communitas, buen vivir and sustainability

This article examines the process of ‘experience systematization’ based on three meetings organized in 2022 by Sonido Colectivo, a group of educators and musicians exploring the relationship between music and social construction in Colombia. These encounters centered on collective musical experiences as a reflective framework to bridge diverse perspectives in the musical field, including performers, educators, researchers, cultural practitioners, and community organizations.

The study identifies three primary fields of action: (a) initiatives that fostered reconciliation between victims and perpetrators of Colombia’s armed conflict, (b) efforts revitalizing music and community life in urban settings, and (c) processes aimed at regenerating the social fabric in southern Colombia by envisioning alternative futures for peace. Participants included Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community leaders, community musicians from Argentina, and sound artists and therapists from Bogotá, many of whom have worked directly with individuals affected by the conflict.

Preliminary findings highlight the diversity of ontological, epistemological, and axiological approaches to music, as well as the mediations that shaped these community practices. Shared elements include ritualization, ‘communitas’ (collective creation), sonorous interculturality, and the integration of memory, territory, and care through the lens of buen vivir (‘good living’). This work challenges Eurocentric paradigms, emphasizing music as a catalyst for resistance, cultural revitalization, and sustainability in the Global South.