Simon Fraser University’s Latin American Studies Program invites you to a free public lecture:
Miki González, “Ayawaska through the Eyes of a Musician: The Story of a Prodigal Healer in the Peruvian Amazon?”
Thursday, December 8, 2016, 6pm
7000 Earl & Jennie Lohn Policy Room, Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC V6B 5K3
Miki González recorded songs of a Shipibo family from San Francisco, a community near Pucallpa in the Peruvian Amazon jungle, in his studio in 2005. He reconnected with some members of the family ten years later without knowing that one of the sons had become an Ayawaska healer and was living in Lima. He had been estranged from his family and lost contact with his father, also an Ayawaska healer.
This presentation will include footage of two videos. One about contacting the family member in Lima showing the reunion of this estranged family in their community in the Peruvian Amazon. The second video includes footage of an Ayawaska ceremony performed by the father and his uncle (an Ayawaska master, and his mentor) to heal the grand-nephew; the prodigal healer who they consider had been a victim of sorcery.
Miki González is a guitarist, arranger and composer based in Lima, Peru. He studied jazz composition and arranging at Berklee College of Music (1979-1982). Miki González is a pioneer in fusing jazz and Afro-Peruvian music and a recognized curator of the musical heritage and traditions of Peru. He has researched the origins of Peruvian music, produced several videos and given lectures on the subject in Peru and Europe. Miki González became a renowned pop artist in the mid-80s in Peru. He led the movement of rock in Spanish and recorded numerous albums of world music (a fusion of Afro-Peruvian music and pop) in the 90s. He has recorded sixteen albums that resulted in number one singles in the Peruvian musical charts, and played internationally with his band in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, USA, Mexico, England, France, Spain and Germany. Currently, Miki González produces electronic beats fused with traditional Andean, Afro-Peruvian and Amazon music.