Sara Curruchich

Sara Curruchich Cúmez (born 25 July 1993) is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter of Kaqchikel descent. She sings in both Spanish and the Kaqchikel language, and is one of the first musicians to use the latter in popular music. Her mother used the money she made while working to put her daughter through school at the Jesús María Alvarado School for Music Teachers, where she studied music education. Many of the songs that she wrote during her formative years in music school were written in the Kaqchikel language, and they were inspired by her experiences as an indigenous woman, her connections to her ancestors, and her love of nature, themes that would carry over into her later work. That year, she was named a "Breakout Artist" by the Dante Alighieri Foundation.

In 2016 she released her second single, "Resistir" ("Resist"), which was written in late 2014 and was dedicated to those who fight against oppression and violence. Later that year she went on her first international tour, which included concerts in Madrid, Barcelona, Biarritz, Paris and Berlin. In the United States, Curruchich performed in Austin, Texas and at Bizarre Bushwick in Brooklyn and the United Nations headquarters in New York, marking the session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. by the documentarian Pamela Yates, whom Curruchich had met in New York. The song was included in Yates' film 500 Years, and it shared the film's aim of telling the story of the uprising against Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina.

In 2017 she released the single "Ser del Viento", which featured the Guatemalan rapper Kontra. The music video made for the song, directed by Daniel Garcia, shows the differences between life in urban and rural communities in Guatemala. Also in 2017, Curruchich embarked on the Raíz tour throughout Guatemala. The goal of the tour was bring music to remote indigenous communities. A short documentary about the tour, Desde Nuestro Muxu’x, directed by Juan Pablo Rojas, was released in 2019. It was an official selection at the Humano Film Festival and won an award at the Best Shorts Competition in the United States.

On 3 June 2017 Curruchich performed alongside the Dresden Symphony Orchestra in Tijuana, Mexico, at a protest against the construction of U.S. president Donald Trump's border wall between Mexico and the United States. The concert, which was held directly in front of the wall, also featured appearances from Mexican singer-songwriter Ceci Bastida and the band Tijuana No!.

Curruchich has also shared the stage with the singer-songwriter Fernando López and the Guatemalan Mayan rock group Sobrevivencia, which sings in the Mam language. The same year, she embarked on the Somos tour throughout Guatemala.

In 2020 she launched a project to compile music by indigenous women. She had originally intended to organize a music festival featuring Indigenous women musicians from Latin America but this plan was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The compilation became available in September on Spotify.

In August 2021 she collaborated with Lila Downs on the song "Pueblos." The song was released to coincide with the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Thematically, the song celebrated native peoples and their journey for equality and freedom. On 22 October 2021, Curruchich released her second studio album, Mujer Indígena. It features collaborations with Spanish singer-songwriters Muerdo and Amparo Sanchez.

Activism Curruchich has stated that her biggest objective as a musician is to "share with girls and boys that we as Indigenous peoples exist" and that the history of indigenous peoples in Latin America does not revolve completely around the presence of Spanish colonists. Her time as an ambassador saw her visiting remote areas of Guatemala and performing for the people that live there.

In interviews, Curruchich has denounced the occupation of land by multinational corporations, as well as the attacks on and killings of indigenous leaders who work to resist it.

Discography

Albums Somos (2019) Mujer Indígena (2021)

Singles "Ch'uti'xtän" (2015) "Resistir" (2016) "Ralk’wal Ulew" (2017) "Ser del Viento" (2017) "Entre la Gente" (2018) "Ixoqi'" (2019) "Tukur" (2020) "La Siguanaba" (2020) "Junam" (2020) "Pueblos" (2021)

Awards and nominations MTV Transformer Award at the 2021 MTV Millennial Awards