What a Funeral Taught Me About Wikipedia, Bolivia, and Japan: A Story of Knowledge and Affection

On February 8, 2026, Julio César Paredes passed away. He was the founding vocalist of the Bolivian group Savia Andina. Although he was no longer part of the group, his figure was important in the history of Bolivian music. In addition to founding one of the most significant groups in 20th-century Bolivian music, he composed “Piel Morena”, a song that became widely famous when performed by Bolivian singer Zulma Yugar, and continued the work of his grandfather, the composer Alberto Ruiz Lavadenz, by taking up the baton of the Bolivian folk ensemble Lyra Incaica.

I went to his funeral because my family and his had some connections. I never knew him personally, but I was aware of his importance in Bolivian music. The ceremony was emotional; several musicians and figures from Bolivian culture attended, and his personal friend, the quena player Rolando Encinas, performed “Piel Morena” in front of the casket.

While listening to Rolando Encinas, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had a Wikipedia article. Encinas is one of the most important quena players in Bolivia and, moreover, is the founder and director of the ensemble Música de Maestros, another group of great importance to the history of 20th-century Bolivian music. When I got home after the funeral, I turned on the computer and searched for him on Wikipedia. I was very surprised to learn that, although he didn’t have an article on the Spanish Wikipedia, he did have one on the Japanese Wikipedia.

The article had been created in 2019 by user Ryomei Kumakura and was even illustrated with a photo of Rolando Encinas in the city of La Paz. But… why did Rolando Encinas have an article in a Wikipedia other than the Spanish one? It turns out that he and the ensemble Música de Maestros had been to Japan, where they surely gained some fans. It’s nothing new that Bolivian music does well in Japan. Think, for instance, of Los Kjarkas, perhaps Bolivia’s most important group, which now counts among its members Makoto Shishido, a Japanese charango player who inherited his taste for Bolivian folklore from his parents, both Japanese. Other examples are the folk ensemble Wayra JaponAndes, made up of Japanese residents in Bolivia, and the Japanese charango player Rio Nishida, winner of the international category at the 2025 Aiquile Festival. What’s more, Música de Maestros currently includes among its members a Japanese violinist who attended a concert by Rolando Encinas in Japan and decided to come to Bolivia to be part of Música de Maestros.

After creating the article for Rolando Encinas in Spanish, I realized that there was also no article for Música de Maestros in any language, which truly surprised me. For decades, the ensemble has been dedicated to rescuing music that would otherwise be forgotten, and personally, I really like them. When I was a child, my father used to listen to songs by Música de Maestros, especially those about the Chaco War, and that sound is embedded in my heart.

So, I set out to create the article for Música de Maestros on the Spanish Wikipedia. While doing so, I reflected on how global the construction of free knowledge is, how mediated it is by our affections, and how much there is still to do regarding Bolivia on the wiki projects. Makoto Shishido ended up in Los Kjarkas because he was a fan of their music, and when he auditioned, he knew all their songs. Someone in Japan who admired Rolando Encinas decided to create his article on the Japanese Wikipedia. Rolando Encinas played his quena at his friend’s funeral because he loved and admired him, and because by playing his music, that legacy can continue among us.

Sometimes, when thinking about the internet, especially in this era of artificial intelligence, we think that knowledge is created and replicated by machines. However, it is worth remembering that much of what we see on the internet, and especially on Wikipedia, is mediated by people’s affections: people who admire a musical group and decide to create an article for them on the Wikipedia in their language; people who go to a concert of their favorite musician and take a photo to upload to Wikimedia Commons. Likewise, it is worth remembering that free knowledge is built regardless of borders and that there is still a great deal to build regarding Bolivia on Wikipedia.