Violeta Parra: Life and Work

Violeta Parra was an extraordinary figure. She is best known for her contribution to the Latin American New Song movement and for her visual art, which was exhibited in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs of the Louvre gallery in 1964. Parra researched Chilean culture and incorporated her knowledge of traditional art forms into her own vibrant and modern music, art, and poetry. This volume unites research on the full range of Parra's praxis. Seminal works by Patricio Manns and Leonidas Morales have been translated into English for the first time. These works introduce the historical and biographical context for Parra's work. They are brought together with new research by Catherine Boyle, Ericka Verba, Paula Miranda, Serda Yalkin, Romina A Green and Lorna Dillon. The volume also includes an interview with Violeta Parra's brother, the influential poet Nicanor Parra. Parra spent her early career singing Mexican songs in bars and researching traditional Chilean culture. All the different phases of Parra's life are discussed in this book alongside analyses of her music, paintings, sculptures, embroideries (>arpilleras) and poetry. Her exhibition in the Louvre gallery and the music venue that she set up before she died, 'La Carpa de la Reina', are also covered. The volume includes a foreword by Chilean American writer Marjorie Agosin.