Visual Culture: Digital and In-Person Experiences as Seen in the Web Page Nuestros Tambores

By Mariely Rivera-Hernández

For the last three years, I have conducted my doctoral research by attending cultural gatherings of bomba and plena. While searching for up-to-date information relating to these cultural events, I came across a web page that has collected fifty creative stories of artisans who craft musical instruments. Becoming familiar with these in-person gatherings, many of which are now filmed and available online and on streaming platforms, strengthens the lens of visual culture—field of study relating to visuals—and helps us understand the image. Interpretative images or images obtained from the audiovisuals of in-person events arise for each cultural experience. As a result, this research work has turned into a love for all cultural expressions—especially for music, handcraftsmanship, dance, and performances—besides a passion for the digital ecosystem.

Photographic illustration taken from the Nuestros Tambores website.

Developed by the non-profit organization Centro de Economía Creativa (CEC), Nuestros Tambores is an educational project in Puerto Rico betting on the ingenuity of our traditions and on the enduring customs that prevail through musical instruments. The virtual project is one of multiple initiatives created by the CEC and intends to document and investigate how musical instruments are crafted and used by their makers, designers, musicians, and cultural ambassadors.

Visual Culture and Communicative Codes

By observing this web page, one understands that visuals are a part of social life. According to Rose (2016), Mirzoeff proclaimed that postmodernism was a visual culture. Indeed, the information era and technologies’ versatility have marked a turning point where visual culture and virtuality are concerned, due to digital images that are replicated through the use and consumption of individuals. This relationship between the visual sign and what is observed by the audience establishes a connection between culture and society, both of which preserve the ways of thinking of the human condition. Each culture organizes its communicative processes through codes. As such, codes are responsible for the way in which phenomena are organized, in this case, phenomena observed through the visual culture put forth by the audiovisuals of Nuestros Tambores.

Audiovisuals in Nuestros Tambores

Nuestros Tambores’ web page has a very interesting visual aesthetic, composed of drawings, caricatures, stories and texts, audiovisuals, and photographs. They mainly produce videos in which they interview craftsmen of different types of drums and instruments, such as barriles de bomba, bongos, panderos, congas, timbales, baterías, batá drums, and other minor percussion instruments. The audiovisuals are created from in-person interviews that educommunicate experiences, life stories, techniques, and cultural messages, all of which interact according to the creativeness of the artisan. The purpose of the videos is to document the life stories and anecdotes of those who create these musical instruments and to record the reasons for crafting such an object. Their experiences, therefore, become content that both educates and documents their knowledge. The creation of the instruments mediates codes, which, in turn, formulate signs. What this means is that a sign is a pattern according to which objects will interact and become intertwined with each other to create an experience. In this case, the musical instruments and the individuals who play them create sound relationships that look and listen to one another, thereby producing a particular experience through the audiovisuals that concern this group of artisans, musicians, and cultural ambassadors.

The following examples detail what was observed in several of the audiovisuals from Nuestros Tambores. Carlos Xiorro’s audiovisual is honest and true to his reality. As a result, the video is straightforward, has a logical narrative, and its structure is well-organized. Other elements, such as design and composition, can be appreciated in the video dedicated to Emmanuel Martínez . The material of the audiovisual presents the specific context and setting in which cultural events take place and shows the perceptibility, clarity, and unity that gives order to the interviewee’s story. In Taller Kenuati’s case , two interviews take place—one to Bárbara Pérez, the other to Luis Xavier Ramos Torres—showcasing an accessible and adaptable dynamic that tells the interviewees’ stories in a versatile and enjoyable way.

Handcraftsmanship, Photographs, Design, and Legacy

It is though narrated artisanal processes, photographs, videos, and the design of these musical instruments that we observe the importance of our customs and traditions. Once the object has been created, it becomes part of our cultural patrimony and legacy. Audiovisuals preserve our musical, artisanal, and patrimonial heritage and transcend age, gender, and social class. As we share our heritage, we ensure its democratization. The result is a hybrid culture that grows, diversifies, and enriches our identity.

The craftsmanship of percussion instruments in Puerto Rico, recorded by Nuestros Tambores, are the foundation of popular and afro-folkloric musical genres. Today, we listen to musical fusions that incorporate the instruments previously mentioned. This is proof of a hybrid musical culture, born out of underground movements and musical genres such as hip hop, reggaeton, and trap. Audiovisuals, as the observed object, consolidate musical instruments at their base and roots, conveying the ancestral and migratory components of an indestructible national craftwork. As Nuestros Tambores creates more audiovisuals and tells more stories regarding the making of other musical instruments, we will have an educational precedent that may support Puerto Rico’s culture industry in socioeconomic terms and in line with its production and design—beyond music consumption. This appreciation for visual culture allows for the creation of a strong ecosystem that exports national objects communicating patrimonial signs.

Rose, G. (2016). Visual methodologies: An introduction to researching with visual materials (4th edition). SAGE Publications Ltd.

The author is currently finishing her doctoral thesis on the political economy of communications, cultural consumption, mediatization, and virtual communities.