Culture, art and music in Colombia

The culture of Colombia is the result of the mixture between Europeans, especially those who arrived from Spain, the indigenous peoples and the African slaves brought by the conquerors.

Colombian culture is expressed in the most genuine way in its music, its dances (in bars and nightclubs) and in the extremely popular soap operas, the unquestionable queens of the small screen.
The remaining manifestations of culture and art, literature, painting, sculpture and theater arouse marginal interest. All in all, travelers with artistic and cultural concerns eager to learn about Colombian artistic paths may come across some things of interest. Bogotá is the artistic capital of Colombia.

Music
Colombia is famous for her music, beyond Shakira (who, despite being Colombian, is not very famous in her own country) or the multi-Grammy-winning luanes singer (who is famous). Both vallenato and cumbia were born in the fertile soil of Colombia, a country that has borrowed and made Caribbean salsa its own. Merengue and reggaetón are also very popular.

Vallenato, born a century ago on the Caribbean coast, is based on the accordion. Carlos Vives, one of the most well-known modern Latino musicians, transformed it into a vibrant pop rhythm and spread it throughout the country.
A lively 4/4 beat with guitars, accordion, bass, drums and, sporadically, a wind section, cumbia is the most popular Colombian rhythm abroad and the one that has exerted the most influence on international music. from Mexico to Argentina and New York.

Salsa spread throughout the Caribbean and landed in Colombia at the end of the 1960s. Since then. Cali and Barranquilla have become the main bastions of salsa in Colombia, which is nonetheless heard throughout the country and is the most popular music in Bogotá nightclubs. Colombia today has countless salsa bands and many excellent salseros (salsa singers); blue-chip names include Joe Arroyo, from the Caribbean coast, and the group Niche from Cali.

The joropo, the music of the Llanos, is usually accompanied by harp, cuatro (small four-string guitar), and maracas, and has many affinities with the music of the Venezuelan Llanos.
Colombia has also given birth to many rhythms arising from the fusion of Afro-Caribbean and Spanish influences, such as the porro, the currulao, the me-recwnbé and the mapalé.