Navegando,Navegando: Easter Island Fusion and Cultural Performance

This article examines the music of Rapanui singer-songwriter Mito Manutomatoma and his band Fusión Rapa Nui, and investigates the contribution that this music makes to the understanding of Rapanui cultural identity in the context of Chilean popular culture. Mito Manutomatoma has been particularly successful in promoting his music to Chilean audiences, and this has consequences for the way in which Rapanui music and performance culture is viewed in Chile. Mobilising a theoretical framework drawn from the discourse of cultural hybridity, the present article focuses particularly on influential songs from Mito Manutomatoma's 2003 recording Mito y Fusión Rapa Nui in order to explain the capacity for this music to foster intercultural communication and understanding between Chile and Rapanui.