Musical Scenes and the Politics of intangible Heritage

I will discuss the role and place of the artist, particularly the musician, in negotiating regional and national representations through music in contemporary Brazil, and how these can be examined in terms of spectacularization of intangible heritage. I will approach the trajectory of the musician Siba Veloso between the scenes of popular culture in Pernambuco (Brazil) and the international circuits of World Music. His engagement with the maracatu masters of the Mata Norte region in Pernambuco, in a context where popular culture is often appropriated as a regional emblem, brings up many questions about the relationship between musical scenes and heritage policies. Is the artist the spokesperson for local cultures? Does the musician represent a territory at the same time as a territory’s intangible heritage becomes “music”?