Bolivia’s Pujillay and Ayarichi Music and Dances Inscribed in 2014 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

 

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported this week that Pujillay and Ayarichi music and dances of the Yampara culture are inscribed in 2014 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Pujillay and Ayarichi are the key musical and choreographic forms of the Yampara culture. They supplement each other and form a whole: Pujillay associated to the rainy season and Ayarichi to the dry.

Pujillay is performed mostly by males, during the ritual of the same name celebrating the renewal of life and abundance brought on by rains. The sounds, dances and costumes call up the ‘Tata Pujillay’, a demonic and fruitful entity with boundless energy. A group of musicians play flutes and a horn clarinet. Dancers, lavishly dressed as Tata Pujillay, diligently circle around a large altar decorated with food.

Ayarichi is danced during festivals dedicated to several Catholic saints who preside the social and cosmic order and influence the preservation of life. The group includes four male dancer-musicians playing panpipes and drums, and two to four young female dancers. Craftswomen are responsible for weaving costumes methodically to the smallest detail. Extensive community networks are mobilized to organize the ritual and provide abundant food and drink. Transmission of musical and choreographic knowledge to children occurs without adult participation, often through collective games and observation. Pujillay and Ayarichi create unity among Yampara communities as a favored way to communicate with nature.

The inventory of Pujllay and Ayarichi music and dances of the Yampara culture was established in 2013 by the Intangible Heritage Unit of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Bolivia, following the request of local authorities in 2009.