Edna Martinez - Mapping Picós and Champeta: Sonic Encounters from the Colombian Caribbean

In cities along the Colombian Caribbean coast, handmade sound systems known as picós have played a diverse range of music, including African rhythms such as Highlife, Benga, Mbaqanga, and Kabyle, alongside Antillean styles like zouk and kompa, as well as local genres such as Champeta. These mobile sound systems are community-rooted, passed down through generations, and recognized for their unique visual identities. They serve as hubs of social cohesion, cultural expression, and economic independence, particularly in peripheral urban areas historically shaped by exclusion. Picós have been central to shaping Afro-Colombian identity and belonging, while fostering musical innovation across genres and borders.

The DJ, curator, producer, and artist Edna Martínez presents this lecture-performance focusing on the history and contemporary practice of the picó. Combining archival research, music, and storytelling, the performance highlights creativity and resilience while addressing historical invisibilization. Audiences are invited to listen, reflect, and engage with a living cultural history, experiencing the interplay of global and local influences within these extraordinary sound systems.