Decolonising Andean and Peruvian music: a view from within

Cultural Europeanisation in Peru has been an aspiration since its independence in 1821. Until 2010 the only institution of higher musical education in Peru had classical European music on a pedestal, rejecting all others, but especially indigenous Andean music. And for the Peruvian state, since its beginnings, the major forms of musical arts were considered to be an expression that originated in the recent history of Europe. This Eurocentric approach was challenged in several instances, such as the revolutionary regime of Velasco Alvarado which rose to power in 1968, that established a series of laws geared towards the building of a new sense of national culture and identity, including music. But also by other initiatives undertaken by the recently created Ministry of Culture in 2010, that makes it possible to hint a path towards the decolonisation of cultural institutions on Peru.