Original article: La rueda de cueca al cine: Pickúa invita a estrenos de 2 videoclips y sesión en vivo del disco “Hijas de Pepe”

Pickúa Brings Cueca to the Big Screen: Premiere of Two Music Videos and Live Session from ‘Hijas de Pepe’

«What you’re about to see is the everyday life of the vístimas of folklore, celebrating cueca throughout the year. This is an invitation to discover the cueca happening in the streets, in the plazas, in popular neighborhoods. It’s completely different from what we learned in school, which is set within governmental or historical spaces,» says Pickúa, an artist, actress, singer, and accordionist from Santiago, who is inviting everyone to the premieres of the music videos «Las cuerdas de la vihuela» and «Vístima del folclore.»

Both songs are part of the album «Hijas de Pepe» (2024), her fifth studio album featuring 20 original cuecas by Pickúa and her sister Andrea Martínez, under the musical direction of Sebastián Aravena and the collaboration of over 30 artists. It is named after José, their father and the grandson of a singer named Luisa María Martínez from the municipality of Molina in the Maule region.

«Thanks to our great-grandmother Luchita, we are overwhelmed with verses, tonadas, and the opportunity to dance live,» recalls Pickúa.

Through these compositions, the sisters convey their shared passion for cueca and the traditional singing circle of Chilean cueca: «the occupation of public space where shouting songs meet sounds designed for open, energetic spaces, not closed venues.»

Directed by Pickúa, the 4K fictional documentary music videos were co-directed with Isham Assis and produced by Trashumante Audiovisual Cooperative and the Foundation for the Promotion of Popular Artistic Scene, supported by the Cultural Donations Law.

The two projects are interconnected because, as Pickúa explains, they aimed to link a predominantly male family circle with a circle exclusively for women.

In the video for «Las cuerdas de la vihuela,» masculinity plays a crucial role due to the presence of esquizofonía, a term indicating a separation between the sound and the visual elements, according to Miguel Vera, a musicologist who is also working on a research project regarding Chilean foxtrot. The music video features a dance circle in a solitary luthier workshop, in memory of the late Antonio Zurita, a luthier, musician, and sound engineer.

«We included male singers to perform, which is the ‘norm’, but their images are accompanied by female voices. This contrast is intriguing as today, a tradition historically characterized by male voices and bodies also involves female voices and bodies,» reflects Pickúa.

The song «Vístima del folclor» originated from Andrea Martínez’s desire to sing cueca after moving to London: «Every time I heard a Chilean accent, I approached to ask, Hi, do you know cueca? but I didn’t have much luck, maybe I was being too forward. I texted Piki, laughing at the situation, and then she sent me some lines. I was inspired, completed the verses, and sent it back to her, and she said, Yes, this is it.»

The music video was filmed alongside the Women and Dissident Circle of Plaza Brasil. The narrative tackles various issues within a dance circle: the invasion of personal space, lack of eye contact, overwhelming sound energy, and leaving before the cueca concludes, with characters played by a hippie, a metalhead, an urban woman, and an office worker portrayed by Pickúa, who also has extensive theater experience.

Delving deeper into the cinematographic language, the work explores the everyday space of cueca circles. «This happens every Thursday in Plaza Brasil, and the girls kindly contributed to this universe for our creation,» noted Pickúa.

Event Details

The premiere of the music video «Las cuerdas de la vihuela» will include a dialogue with its creators, a traditional concert by Pickúa, and a cueca dance circle. The event will take place on Saturday, December 27, from 6:30 PM to 11:00 PM at the Escuela Popular de Artes, located at Santa Rosa #955, Metro Matta.

Tickets are priced at $6,000, or two for $10,000, available via Instagram @submundopx or through WhatsApp at +569 9476 3868.

Meanwhile, the premiere of «Vístima del folclor» is scheduled for Saturday, March 7 at the same venue.

Additionally, in a yet-to-be-scheduled date in March, the complete recording of Hijas de Pepe will premiere at the Cineteca Nacional, featuring participation from musicologists and historians Miguel Vera, Catalina Farias, and Araucaria Rojas, who will discuss the impact of this work on cultural heritage. More information can be found on Instagram at @pickua_.

About ‘Hijas de Pepe’, this album was created and arranged remotely during the Covid pandemic, with Pickúa in Chile and Andrea Martínez in London, featuring musical arrangements by Sebastián Aravena, and subsequently recorded at La Makinita studios. The process was documented in the film ‘Creando Hijas de Pepe’, produced by Trashumante Audiovisual, which will be premiered soon.

El Ciudadano