Sensing Palestine: Global Decolonial Aesthetics in Latin American–Palestinian Musical Collaborations

Abstract

This article analyzes the content of four contemporary musical collaborations between Latin American and Palestinian artists through the lenses of epistemic decoloniality and decolonial aesthetics. The research examines how these collaborative artistic expressions emphasize epistemic agency and solidarity from within the “South” by responding to and connecting injustices across Latin America and the Middle East. It argues that the textual, visual and musical content of these songs frame Palestine’s situation in particular as the typification of contemporary colonialism in the construction of the artists’ global decolonial aesthetic projects. The analysis of selected songs demonstrates how the artists position the Palestinian cause as a global decolonial issue that connects the plight of Palestinians to decolonial ventures in Latin America through discourse that demarcates parallels between diverse political realities, colonial experiences and forms of oppression. The deliberate election of blended song-text languages, musical genres, arrangements and instrumentation, and imagery included in the video-clips challenges and decenters dominant epistemes, constructing a globalized, independent and inclusive decolonial aesthetic. The analysis reveals the epistemological contributions of both lyrical and explicit political messages found in these songs, and unpacks the significance of key elements of decolonial aesthetic production, such as the melodies, instruments and visuals that underpin the songs’ political messages of resistance, enunciation and transnational unity.