Abstract
Before the overthrow of the Allende government in 1973 there was little knowledge of Latin American culture in Australia. The establishment of solidarity committees and the influx of refugees, asylum seekers, and others from Chile post-coup resulted in a diversity of activities to build awareness of what was occurring within Chile and to put pressure on the military regime. Of great importance in this work was the organization of cultural events, which included tours by prominent Chilean musicians. These attracted large audiences and led to a wider appreciation on the part of the Australian population of Latin American culture. The tours also stimulated the formation of Australian Latin American musical groups, Latin American cultural centres, and women’s groups, and the organization of solidarity events in which many ethnic performers from all over the globe participated. Central to this cultural upsurge was Mavis Robertson, a prominent member of the Communist Party of Australia, who chaired the cultural subcommittee of the Committee in Solidarity with the Chilean People in Sydney. This chapter concentrates on her role as a central figure in a growing awareness of Chile, and of Latin America, in Australia after 1973 and continues to the present.
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Notes
- 1.
The literature on the formation and nature of ‘new song’ is voluminous. Tamar Dubuc maintains that most of this work focuses on the socio-political context of the Chilean New Song Movement rather than on “issues pertaining directly to musical genre, to musical biography, to the ontology of music, and, as a result, to the interpretation of music…” (2008, p. 1). Dubuc is correct, but also overstates her case. It is also true that it is almost impossible to divorce the Movement from its political and social context, or the artefacts from that same context. See also Ayo Schmiedecke (2013), Fairley (1985), Manns (1987), Moreno (1986), Morris (1986), Pino-Ojeda (2015), Taffet (1997), and Tumas-Serna (1992).
- 2.
Rios (2008) traces the roots of this ‘folk song’ to an operetta performed in Lima in 1913, and written by Daniel Alomía Robles, an art music composer. The popularity of the tune led to its becoming ‘folkloricised’, with its composition even being dated back to the Túpac Amaru II rebellion against the Spanish in late colonial Peru, pp. 159–162.
- 3.
- 4.
The CPA files provide the figures for the monetary value of ticket sales but not the number of tickets sold. Since ticket prices varied from $5 for those bought through ticket agencies to $4 for those bought as a theatre group to $2.50 for children, it’s not possible to give an exact figure. See CPA File 3.
- 5.
All Communist Party of Australia files held by Peter Ross. Access: p.ross@unsw.edu.au.
- 6.
One example of this is the review by Raelene Heston. “Personally, I found the dollops of propaganda hard to take. But the music was magnificent” (1977).
- 7.
Parra: “I do not play my guitar for applause, I sing of the difference between what is true and false; otherwise I do not sing.” Jara: “If the guitar is to be a weapon in our struggle, if it is to shoot like a gun in our fight, then the man behind it must be an authentic revolutionary”.
- 8.
This number is far below the 10,000 reported by the CPA paper Tribune of April 20, 1977. It does not include numbers at events other than the major concerts. Even so, 10,000 it is probably an exaggeration.
- 9.
This rough number is derived from the income listed for record sales divided by $6.95, which was the price of most of the records.
- 10.
“Yuahuar Huamani” is Quechua meaning “Blood of the Condors.” The group did not always spell the words in the same way, and even signed the Spanish version of their founding declaration “Tagyar-Huamini” (Letter from Mavis Robertson to Yuahuar Huamani 1977).
- 11.
Michelle Bachelet spent some time in exile in Australia in 1975 and engaged in solidarity work organized by the solidarity committees.
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Ross, P. (2019). Mavis Robertson, the Chilean New Song Tours, and the Latin American Cultural Explosion in Sydney After 1977. In: Peñaloza, F., Walsh, S. (eds) Mapping South-South Connections. Studies of the Americas. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78577-6_6
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