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first intervention?

This first intervention took the form of a Venezuelan listening session/party in a bar in London. My intention was to test whether Venezuelan musical heritage could be activated socially through sound, rather than only explained through words, archives, or formal discussion. I wanted to understand whether a curated musical environment could open conversations around migration, memory, identity, belonging and cultural transmission.

The intervention was also connected to my positionality. I have been outside Venezuela for 16 years, and before doing this project I felt uncertain about my authority to speak about Venezuelan musical heritage, especially its more contemporary forms. I felt distant from that identity. However, the process of researching, collecting, listening to and curating the music became part of the intervention before the event even happened. Spending hours listening to Venezuelan music, reading lyrics, selecting tracks and discovering material that did not make it into the final set made me feel Venezuelan again. That was unexpected and deeply moving.

For the party, I placed a letter on each table in the bar. One side included a short description of the project and a QR code linking to a form. The other side included the words “Listening Session” and “Venezuela”, alongside a short curatorial text explaining how Venezuela lives its music through contradiction, and how migration has made this sonic heritage live through mutation, sampling and remixing. The text proposed that, for many of us, Venezuela exists as sound.

During the first two hours, I focused mainly on the musical curation because people were already seated and more attendees were arriving. I began mixing the music documented in my attached HISTORY.html tracklist, which moves across older and newer Venezuelan references: Simón Díaz, Edward Simon, Alberto Naranjo & El Trabuco, Los Amigos Invisibles, La Lupe, Oscar D’León, Canserbero, Rawayana, Arca, DJ Babatr, Safety Trance and others. The tracklist itself became evidence of how I was trying to sonically connect heritage, popular memory, diaspora, remix, electronic mutation and contemporary Venezuelan cultural production.

The session did not present Venezuelan music as something fixed, pure or nostalgic. Instead, the set moved between tonada, joropo, salsa, Latin jazz, folklore, rap, hip hop, Afro House, Tukky Bass, electronic music and club sounds. This reflected one of the central ideas of the intervention: Venezuelan musical heritage is not only preserved by repeating the past, but also by allowing it to mutate.

After two or three hours of mixing, I gathered the courage to walk around the tables and speak with attendees. This was an important shift. Until that point, I had been communicating mainly through sound and atmosphere. Speaking with people made the intervention more relational. My way of initiating these interactions was by asking to take a photograph:

I asked people how they felt, whether they felt comfortable, whether they were Latin American or not, whether they had heard Venezuelan music before, and whether they knew about the Venezuelan migration situation. One thing that surprised me was that everyone I spoke to was a migrant in some way. This made me think about London as a city where it is difficult to find someone who feels “local local”. The context of migration was not external to the event; it was already present in the room.

When I asked people to complete the form through the QR code, the quantitative results were limited:

Views: 15
Starts: 6
Submissions: 2

This became one of the clearest learnings from the intervention. The form existed, but it did not capture the richness of what was happening in the room. People were more willing to speak informally than to complete a structured form. I also noticed that I do not feel comfortable offering something in exchange for a form response. I do not want participation to become transactional. If someone does not want to answer with intention or willingness, I do not feel interested in forcing that data.

This raises an important methodological question for the next iteration: perhaps the most meaningful data in this project will not come from forms, but from recorded conversations, voice notes, oral reflections, informal testimonies, or collective listening sessions where people can respond in a more embodied and spontaneous way.

One of the most memorable moments was a conversation with a Colombian attendee. During the conversation, we spoke about the historical and emotional closeness between Colombia and Venezuela, including the fact that both countries were once part of the same larger national project. At one point, he hugged me.

This surprised me because I have become used to a more polite and physically distanced London social code. The hug interrupted that distance. It felt like something had softened. I wonder whether the music, the conversation, or the shared regional memory made him feel closer to home in some way.

This makes me think that the outputs of an intervention like this may not only be verbal responses, form submissions or measurable data. A hug can also be evidence. A change in body language can be evidence. A person staying longer, asking questions, smiling, dancing, recognising a rhythm or feeling comfortable enough to cross a social boundary can also be part of the research. These are not easy to quantify, but they may be central to understanding how music preserves identity through affect, atmosphere and embodied memory.

This intervention also carried a very personal emotional weight. Shortly before the event, I found out that my grandmother was entering hip surgery after waiting two weeks for her turn in a hospital in Lima, Peru. She is 86 years old. Minutes before starting the party, I was able to wish her a good operation.

Three hours later, I received the message that she had come out successfully. I sent a video to my mother with “Alma Llanera” playing in the background. Only then did I feel able to relax a little and release some of the anxiety I had been carrying.

This moment made the project feel even more personal. The question of preserving Venezuelan musical heritage was not abstract. The music became a way to connect my body in London, my mother, my grandmother in Peru, and Venezuela as an emotional and sonic place. In that moment, Alma Llanera was not only a song; it was a way of sending relief, love and identity across distance. The HISTORY tracklist also records Alma Llanera as part of the session, which now feels important as emotional evidence, not only musical documentation.

I am still not sure whether this first action fully counts as a “proper” intervention. It did not produce a large amount of formal data, and I still need to investigate the research question more deeply. However, I now understand that its value may be different from what I expected.

This first intervention helped me break the first shell. It allowed me to publicly show my intention. It allowed me to test the courage of bringing Venezuelan musical heritage into a public social space in London. It also helped me understand that my research is not only about preserving music for others; it is also about repairing my own relationship with Venezuelan identity after migration.

In this sense, the intervention did generate knowledge. It revealed that:

Music can create conditions for conversation without needing to explain everything first.
Informal conversations may be more generative than forms.
Migrant audiences may respond to Venezuelan music through their own experiences of displacement.
Embodied reactions, such as hugs, comfort, curiosity or emotional openness, may be valid research evidence.
My own positionality is not a limitation to hide, but a central part of the project.
Preservation may not mean keeping heritage unchanged; it may mean allowing it to survive through remix, mutation, memory and social use.

After speaking with Edo and Carolene, colleagues from the MA course, I reflected more critically on the questions I wanted to ask that night and whether they were answered in any way. They helped me consider the balance between what I wanted to say and what I wanted to receive.

The idea of putting 20% of my effort into what I want to say and 80% into what I want to receive feels like a strong challenge for the next intervention. In this first version, I was still carrying a lot of authorial intention: the curatorial text, the music selection, the QR code, the atmosphere, the desire to communicate a position. For the next iteration, I want to design a structure that listens more actively.

This connects to the MA Applied Imagination emphasis on iterative testing, reflection and the development of research tools. The course asks students to undertake interventions, gather evidence, reflect on outcomes and refine the research question and methodology through practice.

The main methodological learning is that the form may not be the right tool for this kind of research, or at least not the central one. The low response rate suggests that the QR code did not match the social rhythm of the event. People were present in the atmosphere, in conversation, in music, in drinking, in listening. Completing a form may have felt too administrative for the emotional and social space that had been created.

For future interventions, I want to explore more organic ways of collecting data, such as:

A small recording booth or “voice-note station” where people can leave a short response after hearing a song.
Consent-based recorded conversations during or after the event.
A prompt card asking people to answer one question verbally rather than through a form.
A collective listening circle with fewer people and deeper dialogue.
Asking participants to bring one song that connects them to home, migration or family.
Documenting gestures, movements, reactions and atmosphere through field notes immediately after the event.

The important ethical question is how to record without breaking trust. The next intervention should make consent visible and simple: people should know when they are being recorded, why, how the recording will be used, and that they can say no. I want to explore recording not as extraction, but as a way of preserving oral memory and emotional response.

This first intervention was cathartic. It was emotionally strong and personally transformative. It did not fully answer my research question, but it helped me understand what I need to ask next.

The intervention helped me move from research as an idea to research as a lived public action. It was not perfect, but it was necessary. It gave me evidence, discomfort, emotion, feedback and direction. Most importantly, it made me feel that Venezuela can exist as sound — and that sound can still gather people, even far from home.

Here is the track list

Track List: HISTORY

Num. Title Artist Time BPM Track Label Genre Key Remixer Producer Release Date Bitrate
1 Tonada De Luna Llena Simón Díaz 03:08 87.898 7 Palacio Tonada; Joropo 2m arranger 1974/01/01 320000
2 Caracas Edward Simon 06:28 74.712 2 Latin Jazz 11d 2014/01/01 320000
3 Canto de Lavanderas Trabajo y Persona & Ensamble B11 02:43 58.455 4d 2021/01/01 320000
4 San Juan, Tambor Y Fuera Un Dos Tres y Fuera 05:13 80.173 11 Rock; Latin; Prog Rock; Experimental; Psychedelic Rock 10m 845000
5 Caracas Edward Simon 06:28 74.712 2 Latin Jazz 11d 2014/01/01 320000
6 Calipso Del Callao Alberto Naranjo & El Trabuco 04:16 55.393 4 Other 9d 256000
7 Caracas Edward Simon 06:28 74.712 2 Latin Jazz 11d 2014/01/01 320000
8 Calipso Del Callao Alberto Naranjo & El Trabuco 04:16 55.393 4 Other 9d 256000
9 Insolito UniVerso – 2023 Ese Puerto Existe (Venezuela) – 04. El Chivo (ft. Laetitia Sadier) 08:40 80.250 4m 269000
10 Intro Los Amigos Invisibles 00:36 93.964 1 3m 2000/01/01 320000
11 Arepa 3000 Los Amigos Invisibles 02:36 110.002 2 2d 2000/01/01 320000
12 Toma Cinco Grupo Baquedanu’s 03:16 119.150 6 El Palmas Music Latin Jazz / Latin Folk / Pop 12m 2022/01/01 988000
13 Masturbation Session Los Amigos Invisibles 04:54 118.000 7 11d 2000/01/01 320000
14 Aldemaro en su Camaro Los Amigos Invisibles 03:32 105.069 18 Electronic Funk Jazz Jazz-Funk Latin Jazz 1m 1998/03/24 854000
15 Mercedes Simon Diaz Simón Díaz 02:53 91.328 2 Latin 2m (C) 2015 El Palacio de la Musica, S.A. (P) 2015 El Palacio de la Música, S.A. 2015/09/04 827958
16 Si Yo Fuera Los Vasallos del Sol 03:44 67.688 3 Network Medien Afro-Cuban, Afro-Latin 6m 2000/01/01 939095
17 Contrapunteo La Lupe 02:49 80.425 5 Latin 3d 1966/01/01 320000
18 Si Yo Fuera Los Vasallos del Sol 03:44 67.688 3 Network Medien Afro-Cuban, Afro-Latin 6m 2000/01/01 939095
19 Negra Linda Porfi Jimenez y Su Orquesta Chico Salas Orlando Castillo “Watussi” 03:30 65.383 3 Tropical 1m 1975/01/01 192000
20 Llorarás Dimension Latina 03:49 92.931 1 6m ℗ 1974 Musart-Balboa, a division of Concord Music Group, Inc. 1996/01/01 974000
21 (88) – OSCAR DE LEON – DETALLES (DJ KARLOS CVMIX) 02:55 87.997 Other 2m 320000
22 Irimo Oscar D’León 03:05 104.000 4 Latin 11m 2007/03/12 899000
23 Idilio Neutro Shorty; Oscar D’León 05:16 93.500 4 9m (P) 2026 Rimas Entertainment México, S.A de C.V 2026/01/01 1005000
24 Incomprendido Rawayana, Neutro Shorty, Orestes Gomez 03:00 83.000 Brocoli Records Latin 2m 2023/07/28 320000
25 Idilio Neutro Shorty; Oscar D’León 05:16 93.500 4 9m (P) 2026 Rimas Entertainment México, S.A de C.V 2026/01/01 1005000
26 Vagos Y Maleantes Vagos y Maleantes 03:08 98.000 1 Latin Rap Hip Hop Rap 2d 2003/01/01 320000
27 Sabor Y Control Vagos y Maleantes 04:38 95.000 6 Latin Rap Hip Hop Rap 12m 2003/01/01 320000
28 Interludio K219 Canserbero 01:51 92.001 9 10d 2016/01/01 778000
29 Ponmela en el Aire Apache & Canserbero 03:02 94.300 9 Canserbero Music 11m 2013/01/01 909000
30 Únetenos Canserbero 03:15 91.451 13 7m 2016/01/01 757000
31 Plata Lil Supa 02:37 86.000 5 4m 2022/02/25 319965
32 La Tormenta Rawayana & Servando 02:27 96.000 19 Afrikaanse Muziek; Musique africaine 8m 2023 Brocoli Records LLC 2023/01/01 749000
33 la palabra de un capo Çantamarta 03:04 97.999 4 Musiques du monde, Amérique latine 10m © 2026 Çantamarta & Rimas Entertainment Europa ℗ 2026 Çantamarta & Rimas Entertainment Europa 2026/05/29 1618000
34 KLK (feat. Rosalía) Arca 03:48 98.000 8 8m 2020/06/26 990336
35 Diavla Yajaira la Beyaca 02:29 99.999 2 Muakk Electronic Hard Dance Latin Club Folk 8d 2025/06/26 320000
36 El Alma Que Te Trajo Arca 02:25 197.999 5m 2022/01/01 917000
37 Reyimiller Rawayana 03:23 104.000 8 Brocoli Records Latin 10m 2026/01/01 320000
38 Afro Venezuelan Tribe (Original Mix) Dylan J 05:46 125.000 whoplaymusic.com Afro House 7m 2024/01/01 320000
39 Caracas De Noche (Original Mix) Mijangos, DJ Marvin, Aaron Sevilla, dbasser, LemonSouldj, Di Yayo 04:52 122.000 4 Afro House 5m 2024/01/01 320000
40 One Noise (Venezuelan Drums) Dj Babatr 03:05 138.000 2 The Raptor Records 12d 2024/12/24 320000
41 tictac Çantamarta 02:40 124.000 10 Musiques du monde, Amérique latine 11m © 2026 Çantamarta & Rimas Entertainment Europa ℗ 2026 Çantamarta & Rimas Entertainment Europa 2026/05/29 1663000
42 OMG we got it Todosantos 03:36 137.019 1 Tukky Bass 12m 2007/01/01 320000
43 Se Presta Rawayana 02:39 130.000 2 4m 2026/01/01 1635254
44 Piazo e’ Perra Los Amigos Invisibles 03:28 121.977 15 5m 2000/01/01 320000
45 Delfines Sunsplash 05:00 130.000 14 3m 2016/01/01 286000
46 caracas, caracas un solo pueblo 04:08 117.937 1 World Music Network World 10m 2003/01/01 206000
47 Cementerio del Este La Vida Boheme 05:31 118.000 1 Independiente Alternative 4m 2013/04/13 320000
48 Panda Sonora Todosantos 05:03 120.001 12 Indietronica Glitch Pop IDM Synthpop 11m 2005/01/01 320000
49 Acid Boys & Acid Girls Todosantos 05:37 137.000 2 Tukky Bass 6m 2007/01/01 320000
50 MALUCA weed420 04:43 89.068 5 4m 2025/02/14 1062000
51 Rakata Arca 02:32 93.999 3 XL Recordings Electronic 9m 2021/11/30 320000
52 Luna Llena Arca 03:20 97.000 5 XL Recordings 2m 2021/11/30 979298
53 Mala Conducta (Feat. Trece Y Belica) Guerrilla Seca 06:12 98.500 5 Gangsta Rap / Latin Rap / Dirty South / Boom Bap / Horrorcore 12m 2005/01/01 191000
54 Maria Lionza Willie Colón & Rubén Blades 05:31 98.543 4 Salsa 9m 1978/01/01 859819
55 Yo Sin Ti [Neey DJ @ Suscripcion] Salserin [2 =1.33=(1)1s =2.43=(1)1s=1L] 03:15 84.000 Other 5d 320000
56 (90) Salserin [ Maldy’14 Pers. ] De Sol A Sol 03:31 90.000 1d 2014/01/01 320000
57 La Salsa De Venezuela Ft Orlando Watussi Castillo 05:49 93.002 7 1m 2022/01/01 320000
58 Echando pálante WATUSSI (Orlando José Castillo) 04:41 93.920 1 Salsa 2m 2000/01/01 256000
59 A Quien No Le Va A Gustar Tambor Urbano 02:51 147.740 14 Folklore 2m 2004/01/01 158000
60 Veneka – DJ Babatr Mix Rawayana 04:27 135.000 1 9m 2024/12/20 925000
61 Dj Yirvin, Phran, Chica Acosta (Original Mix) 140 Dura 04:04 140.000 www.iptorrents.com – www.torrentday.com – www.torrenting.com 12m 320000
62 CCS Quemadito 2007 (Original Mix) Wost 05:02 140.000 1 fordjonly.com Hard Dance / Hardcore / Neo Rave 1m 2025/01/24 320000
63 Acid Boys & Acid Girls Todosantos 05:37 137.000 2 Tukky Bass 6m 2007/01/01 320000
64 Poppers coen 04:36 135.999 5 5d 2025/01/01 320000
65 Caracas Bubbling Militia SAFETY TRANCE 02:06 130.000 5 Club Romantico Reggaeton Reggae Electronic 12m 2022/11/11 320000
66 Rottweiler coen 04:40 130.000 3 1m 2025/01/01 320000
67 Arca Prada (STRomeo) KE RARA 02:59 135.000 Latin 1m 320000
68 AB&AG (Leif’s Acid Blowing In Wind rmx) Todosantos 03:40 137.001 12d 2007/01/01 320000
69 Rank xxveneco 05:16 146.000 12 12m 2025/01/01 320000
70 se me ocurrio SAFETY TRANCE 02:02 137.000 14 Club Romantico Electronic 4d 2026/04/30 901000
71 Conga Rawayana 01:31 138.001 15 Brocoli Records Latin 5d 2026/01/01 320000
72 Playa Pantaleta Rawayana 03:13 135.003 9 Brocoli Records Latin 11m 2026/01/01 320000
73 panties SAFETY TRANCE feat. Meth Math 02:30 138.000 11 Club Romantico Electronic 6d 2026/04/30 952000
74 Mi Querencia Simon Diaz & Cardopusher 03:46 144.999 14 Electronica 1m 2014/01/01 320000
75 matatán Çantamarta 02:17 130.000 6 Musiques du monde, Amérique latine 9m © 2026 Çantamarta & Rimas Entertainment Europa ℗ 2026 Çantamarta & Rimas Entertainment Europa 2026/05/29 1750000
76 Inglés En Miami Manuel Turizo , Rawayana 03:23 132.000 3 Brocoli Records Latin 3d 2026/01/01 320000
77 Que Rico Los Amigos Invisibles 04:00 128.002 4 1d 2000/01/01 320000
78 Mentiras Los Amigos Invisibles 03:22 124.994 2 St. Indie Music Acid Jazz Electronica Latin Rock 2m 2009/06/09 1061693
79 todo lo que toco se hace oro Çantamarta 03:01 67.499 3 Musiques du monde, Amérique latine 5m © 2026 Çantamarta & Rimas Entertainment Europa ℗ 2026 Çantamarta & Rimas Entertainment Europa 2026/05/29 1613000
80 Naguará Elena Rose , Rawayana 03:03 193.999 6 Brocoli Records Latin 6m 2026/01/01 320000
81 Miel Cabra, Rafa Pabön, Rawayana 02:53 191.999 12 Afrikaanse Muziek; Musique africaine 2m 2023 Brocoli Records LLC 2023/01/01 844014
82 Canto de Pilon / Carmela Tambor Urbano 04:25 71.493 Folklore Venezolano 8m 192000
83 Binikini Danny Ocean & Rawayana 03:04 79.500 3 Afrikaanse Muziek; Musique africaine 8m 2023 Brocoli Records LLC 2023/01/01 915959
84 Incomprendido Rawayana, Neutro Shorty, Orestes Gomez 03:00 83.000 Brocoli Records Latin 2m 2023/07/28 320000
85 Canto A Caracas La Lupe 02:53 60.259 3 Latin 3d 1966/01/01 320000
86 Alma Llanera Simon Diaz 02:25 105.195 32 Venezolana 1d 160000
87 Malembe ft. Vasallos del sol Raul Monsalve y Los Forajidos 01:31 82.497 1 2d 2020/01/01 319981
88 Voce La Vida Boheme 03:56 66.700 2 Alternative 6d 2017/01/01 320000
89 Chamito Loco Big Soto;Trainer 03:18 65.000 7 7m 2017/01/01 320000
90 Neutro Shorty – Mariwana On The Table 03:36 67.000 7m 320000
91 Es Épico Canserbero 06:02 93.500 2 2m ℗© 2012: La Biblioteca, LLC 2012/03/22 893000
92 Dame Un Break Rawayana 03:21 115.000 2 Afrikaanse Muziek; Musique africaine 7m 2023 Brocoli Records LLC 2023/01/01 917011
93 Colchones, Tambores y Refrigeradores Alemán & Rawayana 03:20 112.998 18 Afrikaanse Muziek; Musique africaine 11m 2023 Brocoli Records LLC 2023/01/01 789000
94 La Vecina Los Amigos Invisibles 04:20 116.001 3 4m 2000/01/01 320000
95 Caliente Los Amigos Invisibles 04:23 129.998 18 12d 2000/01/01 320000
96 alien (No acostumbro festejar) c/ Dexonia weed420 11:51 145.002 1 Epic Collage Latin Electronic Neo-Psychedelia 5m 2026/04/01 772000
97 La Tormenta Rawayana & Servando 02:27 96.000 19 Afrikaanse Muziek; Musique africaine 8m 2023 Brocoli Records LLC 2023/01/01 749000
98 Ponmela en el Aire Apache & Canserbero 03:02 94.300 9 Canserbero Music 11m 2013/01/01 909000
99 Pukita Yajaira la Beyaca 03:05 103.000 4 Muakk Electronic Hard Dance Latin Club Folk 11m 2025/06/26 319972
100 duro SAFETY TRANCE feat. nusar3000 & Kinara 02:33 200.002 8 Club Romantico Electronic 3m 2026/04/30 992000
101 Soy Tu Papá (feat. Fernando Palomo) Fernando Palomo, Rawayana, Spreadlof 04:17 104.000 22 Afrikaanse Muziek; Musique africaine 5m 2023 Brocoli Records LLC 2023/01/01 845000
102 PROPAGANDA weed420 02:25 82.995 11 5m 2025/02/14 884000
103 Tonada De Luna Llena Simón Díaz 03:08 87.898 7 Palacio Tonada; Joropo 2m arranger 1974/01/01 320000
104 Sensemayá – Live At Centro de Acción Social por la Música, Sala Simón Bolivar, Caracas / 2008 gustavo dudamel & simón bolívar youth orchestra of venezuela 06:38 92.594 1 classical 8d 2008/01/01 320000
105 ESE NEGRO SOLEDAD BRAVO 05:20 98.341 2 Other 12d 1982/01/01 320000

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