Domingo Chalá Valencia is a Colombian gravedigger and vallenato singer. Chalá was the gravedigger of Bellavista during the Bojayá massacre; in the aftermath he was interviewed several times by Colombian and international media. Radio Nacional de Colombia wrote that Chalá "is synonymous with art and resilience, his vallenatos reverberate nationally and internationally, bringing a message of peace and reconciliation to the whole of Colombian society."[1]: q
Biography
Chalá was born in 1945 or 1946.[2] He was the gravedigger of Bellavista, a town in Bojayá, Colombia, for much of his life.[2]
The Bojayá massacre
On 2 May 2002, a large number of FARC fighters arrived in Bellavista, searching for a group of paramilitaries.[3] A gas cylinder bomb fired by the FARC hit a church where people were sheltering, killing 98, including 48 children.[4][3] Chalá removed the dead from the church; many had to be buried without having been identified.[2] The event became known as the Bojayá massacre, and in the aftermath Chalá was interviewed several times by both the Colombian and international media.[2][4]
Musical career
Chalá became interested in vallenato following his military service in 1964.[1] He began writing songs following the Bojayá massacre, with lyrics addressing the experience as well as the decades of war that preceded it.[1] Chalá's debut album Vallenatos del Medio Atrato was released in November 2024.[3] Diego Londoño of El Colombiano called the album "a sonorous vindication of a born singer...He sings to the war and to oblivion."[5]: q Chalá recorded the album with the help of Andrés Felipe Restrepo, an artist and photographer, and distributed the album on USB sticks sold through his Instagram.[3] The album artwork was created by students at the Pontifical Bolivarian University.[3]
Discography
Albums
- Vallenatos del Medio Atrato (2024)
References
- ^ a b c John Sáenz Ruiz (2022-08-16), "Domingo Valencia, el mejor amigo de los muertos en Bojayá" [Domingo Valencia, the best friend of the dead in Bojayá], Radio Nacional de Colombia (in Spanish), retrieved 2025-02-15
- ^ a b c d César A. Marín; Felipe Suárez (2018-05-02), "El crudo relato del sepulturero de Bojayá" [The Grim Account of the Gravedigger of Bojayá], El Espectador (in Spanish), retrieved 2025-02-15
- ^ a b c d e Andrés Ortiz, "El 'recogemuertos' de Bojayá que le canta al río Atrato y a la paz" [The 'recogemuertos' of Bojayá who sings to the Atrato River and to peace], Colombia Visible (in Spanish), retrieved 2025-02-15
- ^ a b Camilo Alzate González (2022-05-02), "20 años después de la masacre, Bojayá sigue sin enterrar sus dolores" [20 years after the massacre, Bojayá still has not buried its sorrows], El Espectador (in Spanish), retrieved 2025-02-15
- ^ Diego Londoño (2024-12-28), "20 discos colombianos de 2024 que vale la pena escuchar antes de terminar el año" [20 Colombian albums of 2024 worth listening to before the year ends], El Colombiano (in Spanish), retrieved 2025-02-15