Under the motto 'The Global Game: Remapping Collaborations', the London Design Biennale 2023 proposed its participants to redraw current geopolitical borders through design. Spain and Peru, promoted by the Círculo de Bellas Artes and with the support of Acción Cultural Española, jointly presented the project titled "Common Vibrations", with which both nations unite their cultures through a percussion instrument: the cajon.
In 1977, the singer-songwriter Chabuca Granda together with her cajon player, Carlos “Caitro” Soto, had a meeting at the Spanish Embassy in Lima with the Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucía and his percussionist, the Brazilian Rubem Dantas, who were on tour. for Peru. Paco de Lucía, surprised by the instrument, decided to incorporate it into his own compositions. This is how the Peruvian cajon was introduced into flamenco music at the end of the 20th century.
The main element of the Common Vibrations installation is the box that serves to transport the elements of the installation. Like a matrioshka, once the transport box reaches the exhibition hall, it unfolds to become a 'tablao' on which the drawers are arranged. The 'tablao' is also a game of combinations in which the position of the pieces allows, in small groups, to play the instrument experimenting with space: with your back, facing each other, a few centimeters from another person... a way of getting closer, from the provocation of strangeness, to the instrument and its sound.
The installation organized by the CBA has the support of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), the Embassies of Spain and Peru in the United Kingdom, as well as the company Figueras Seating, Allianz and the María Pagés Choreographic Center.
