Decolonizing the Cultural Heritage of Opera

Opera, often considered a Eurocentric elitist art, is being reinvented around the globe. Its cross-cultural appeal has been explored by numerous artists, art collectives, activists, and established opera houses. Opera is being hybridized, indigenized, and revitalized, resulting in a new aesthetic and social energy that empowers local communities whose voice was either suppressed or erased by colonial hegemonic practices. The greatest challenges facing contemporary opera are its sustainability and inclusivity. As a traditionally expensive art surviving thanks to its affluent public and state subsidies, opera was naturally associated with social prestige and cultural capital, and deeply intertwined with coloniality. Decolonization in opera means both an artistic method and an epistemic change with social relevance. This paper gives an overview of decolonial operatic practices that seek to liberate the cultural heritage of opera and to reinvent this art, to make it available for marginalized communities and to engage young audiences that were not typically attracted to this genre. Examples from the Global North and the Global South illustrate the demands of artists and activists who are rethinking the potential of opera and its social relevance in the twenty-first century. Opera as a multi-layered cultural heritage matters. The challenge for artists, heritage professionals, and scholars of opera is to create a new decolonial epistemic system within which this genre can continue to thrive.