Barranquilla (Colombia), 23 Mar Colombian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta, internationally known for her musical productions where she fuses indigenous and Afro-Colombian rhythms with techno pop and electronic music, stated that her country “is a disaster that cannot be romanticized”. Participating as a guest in a colloquium during the 16th edition of the Carnival of the Arts in Barranquilla, Pimienta stated that she cannot be silent in the face of these situations, such as “when you are from La Guajira (Caribbean region where her family is from) and there is no water for several days and you walk in the street and there are two or three year old children eating from the garbage”. “I cannot romanticize that this country is a disaster and it must be said. There are those who intentionally decide not to say it, they do not talk about the socio-political situation in the country because they are afraid, suddenly because they are not going to be so famous. Everyone has their opinion, but for me it is very important to say that Colombia is a disaster,” he noted. Born in Barranquilla 36 years ago, Pimienta, who last year became the first Colombian to compose for the New York Ballet Orchestra, recorded her first album, “Color”, in 2010, but her real rise to fame came in 2017 when she won the Polaris Award, one of the most important awards in the Canadian music industry. Based in Canada at a young age when she moved to London, Ontario, before moving to Toronto, where she currently resides, the author of “Water”, “Human”, “Freedom”, “What You Do” and “Nothing” announced during the discussion that she will return to live in Colombia, specifically in Barranquilla. “I think that, at least in our generation, with whom I grew up here, many of my contemporaries have no interest in going elsewhere because it is known that there is a lot to do here,” said the artist, who at all times refers to her Afro and Wayúu origins, an indigenous ethnic group from northern Colombia. A mother of two children, the artist expressed her support for the Colombian Constitutional Court's decision to decriminalize abortion up to 24 weeks. Pimienta's participation in the Carnival of Arts was thanks to the fact that it opened a space in the middle of the tour of presentations that it is carrying out in North America and Europe, which highlights the concert that will be given on May 5 at Sala La Nau in Barcelona. The Carnival of Arts, which will end next Friday, March 25, welcomes more than 40 national and international creators from different disciplines, cultures and territories. This edition highlights the participation of film director Rodrigo García Barcha, Panamanian sonero Gabino Pampini, Mexican writer Xavier Velazco, Spanish historian Álvaro Santana and Colombian journalist Juan Gossaín, among others. CHIEF hpc/jga/laa
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