Tahitian Musical Landscape

A model for the Tahitian musical landscape

The contemporary Tahitian musical landscape can be broadly described as the sum of three intertwined musical overlapping fields as described in Figure 1 (Colson 2016, p. 119).

The Cultural/Traditional field corresponds to what Tahitians name arts traditionnels. It encompasses the various genres in ‘ori tahiti and associated musics, ‘ōrero (oratory art), and hīmene (traditional a cappella singing). ʻOri tahiti includes four basic genres, ʻōteʻa, pāʻōʻā, hivinau, and ʻaparima. ʻŌteʻa is a drum-accompanied dance where men and women dance separately. It features duple and quadratic metre and uses characteristic rhythmic cell types. Pāʻōʻā and hivinau are mixed female-male group dances where solo recitation

4 It features many different kinds of activities celebrating the Māʻohi5 cultural heritage, including not only traditional music and dance competitions but also a ‘ōrero competition, canoe races, cooking, traditional sports competitions, and fire walking. The weight of the Heiva in shaping contemporary musical practice in traditional arts, and indirectly in other musical genres, is noticeable. Rehearsals for the Heiva concentrate most participants’ available energy and time during the year, generally leaving little spare time for other artistic practices (Libor Prokop, pers. comm., 24 September 2013). Some groups start rehearsing up to six months before the event, however most groups usually dedicate the last two months before the event to intensive rehearsals. Professional groups might not participate each year (for example ʻori tahiti ensemble O Tahiti E goes to the Heiva every three years [Marguerite Lai, pers. comm., 23 September 2013]). Some groups are constituted only for the Heiva, such as Tamarii Tipaerui, while others like Temaeva have been performing in the tourism industry for many years. Motivation for participating varies: the financial incentive attracts some groups because it may help them to sustain their activities. Total prizes worth around

3). Although the proposed categorization may appear somehow artificial, it allows to highlight the circulation of artists and aesthetics within the Tahitian musical landscape. ‘Tahitian popular music’ covers aesthetically stabilised popular music ensembles featuring string bands, singing in indigenous languages, and using predominantly the tāʻiri pāʻumotu technique. Overlapping with this category is the ‘Contemporary indigenous music’ genre, which covers various expressions of indigenous music, often in relation with indigenous identity issues. Since the cultural revival of the 1970s, it has included emerging groups whose aesthetics and phraseology contrast with kaina8 music in various ways, whether from the language, the themes, or the music style used. Western and international genres include jazz and international covers in rock, funk, or reggae that do not directly relate to indigenous culture, whether in the lyrics or in the music. Though also performed by some indigenous groups, they form the predominant category of popular music performed by Western-originated communities and by external international artists touring in Tahiti. Lastly, the ‘Products of casual encounters’ category comprises often one-off performances featuring invited artists from different origins and producing unusual combinations