The vocalist of the group Choquibtown wore a red coat with details in denim on the sleeves with the phrase: “He who was born where you have to fight for everything does not give up.”
Gloria Emilse Martínez Perea, better known as Goyo, participated on Sunday night in the first version of “Ellas y su música”, an event supported by the Latin Grammy and held in Miami, United States, which seeks to highlight the work of the women in industry.
In addition to being the only Colombian invited, the vocalist of the group Choquibtown took advantage of the event, which was broadcast on Univisión, to denounce through her wardrobe what is happening in Colombia in the framework of the national strike.
According to the NGO Temblores organization, since the national strike was resumed in Colombia, between April 28 and May 8, 2021, 1,876 violent events have been registered, 47 people killed (39 homicides due to police violence), 278 victims of police violence, 963 arbitrary arrests against protesters, 28 victims of assault on their eyes and 12 victims of sexual violence by the Public Force.
His look or outfit was a red coat with denim details on the sleeves with the phrase: “He who was born where you have to fight for everything does not give up” and a jean with phrases such as: “SOS” and “Colombia resists.” The suit was made and customized by designer and artist Lewis Beilharz.
Along with the carousel of photos that she published on her Instagram account, the Chocoan artist put the message: “Yesterday I was marching through my country and today in a couple of hours I will have the privilege of being in a very powerful show with some queens of music. world wide and I wanted to carry a message of so many that I write in my letters to my clothes. ‘The one who was born where you have to fight for everything does not give up’, remembering how important it is not to give up when it comes to fulfilling dreams or simply raising your voice when necessary ”.
View this post on Instagram
“Today more than ever we must continue to raise our voices. Going out to protest peacefully should not be a cause of death. It should be a journey to learn and to teach how to build a country with dialogue and without weapons, not getting bogged down as if we were in a civil war. No more violence, “added the singer.
During her presentation at the event, the artist also sent a message: “SOS Colombia, pure love.”
View this post on Instagram
For his part, Australian designer and artist Lewis Beilharz posted the photos with the message: “Fashion can become art, art can become political status. It was a great honor to make these clothes for the talented Queen Goyo so that people know what is happening in Colombia right now. Peace and prayers for Colombia! ”.
Regarding the use of garments as a political act or tool to send a message to the world about the murders, disappearances and police abuses that have occurred during the 12 days of the National Strike in Colombia, Diana Gómez, a fashion communicator, assures that she thinks that “It could be an empty act if it were not about a woman who has had close experience with racism and classism in Colombia, as one understands from the things she narrates about her life. In addition, he has actively used his influence to talk about what is happening and has attended demonstrations ”.
Follow the news of El Espectador on Google NewsGómez adds that beyond the symbolic, “it makes a practical sense to use his clothing as a fence that will be registered by international media. The ‘reading’ is easy when the garment is a banner ”.
William Cruz Bermeo, UPB professor and writer of “Medellín, Half a Century in Fashion: 1900-1950”, recalls that a while ago “Umberto Eco pointed out that ‘the habit makes the monk’, it was a metaphor to say that, One way or another, the things that we put on and with which we prepare our appearance have a symbolic charge and represent us. In fact, the main examples of Eco were in the arena of established political power, all the figures in that field, regardless of their ideology, have known about clothing as a non-verbal communication tool that contributes to giving meaning to their messages ”.
Cruz adds that also “social tensions, emerging ideas and clamor for a new social order have been associated with appearance: since the French Revolution, through the suffrage movements or the social unrest experienced by the punks of the 1970s. They have created styles as forms of resistance against the dominant order. In many of these cases, rather than being a conscious elaboration, this style has been the result of the material conditions of the moment, that is, it is done with what is at hand. Now, when we enter today and the field of pop culture, and fashion is part of this, the field for the propagation of the message is more than fertile, it has a potential for dissemination that any star connected with a collective feeling – legitimate or not, and that’s another matter — he will use it. “
Edward Salazar, professor and sociologist, assures that Goyo’s political position precedes the dress he showed at the event, since one of his flags as an artist has been the recognition of the territory with its lyrics, songs and its wardrobe (since he has also used the afro hair and braided to vindicate their culture to the world). “We are seeing the use of a platform in which the combination of his voice, his music, fashion and clothing is enhancing the message in a situation of conjuncture. She is added as a critical and sustained voice over time ”.
Regarding the semiotic analysis of the use of the garments, Salazar points out that Goyo uses textiles as canvas, using an aesthetic close to graffiti or mural letters and a look made with denim. “Graffiti and jean go along the same lines as where graffiti occurs: in the city, where the demonstrations that we are experiencing are taking place, that is, in the urban space and from the voice of the youth. The pint transmits that voice of that generation in certain contexts that, through graffiti, express a political stance that is not vandalism but what it does is like many people say: ‘the walls speak’, in this case, the clothes too ”.
Along the same lines, Cruz explains it from what Mon Laferte did when he used his body as a wall of complaint during the 2019 Latin Grammys, “transferring the graffiti from the street to the red carpet. There is a similar case in Goyo now, where the written message is direct and forceful, with no room for metaphors; but with the latter I do not mean that it does not have them: the use of red, for example, is striking, a color that as a rule has joined the fervor of revolutions. Also the use of demin, a fabric that the hippie movement and the cultural revolution of the 1960s associated with the ideals of equality. As obvious as these connotations that I point out may seem, it must be taken into account that fashion, as part of pop culture, communicates with easily identifiable codes; it is part of its success ”.
Luz Lancheros, a fashion journalist, explains that “Goyo knows that the suit speaks for itself. Instagram and Facebook have been wicked with people for the hashtags they use, but a photo is not so easy to capture or contain in its viralization. It seems to me a very smart strategy to use in the suit all the phrases that the networks want to silence us. In addition, the reach that she has with her image outside of Colombia amplifies the message ”.
Beyond the use of clothing to denounce police abuse and support protests, Goyo has also participated in marches and has used his social networks and his voice to send messages against the massacres, the lack of opportunities and racism. “We saw in videos how they take advantage of this situation to look for culprits, to confuse people and put us against and lose the objective, which is a Colombia with possibilities for everyone and not for the same as always.”
