18 August 2009/ UNESCO Office / Montevideo and Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
On 26 and 27 October 2009 will be held in Buenos Aires, Republic of Argentina, the International Seminar “The Slave Route in Río de la Plata: Contributions for an Intercultural Dialogue”, organized by the UNESCO Chair on Cultural Tourism UNTREF/AAMNBA, with the support of the UNESCO representation to the Governments of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, in Montevideo.
“The Slave Route in Río de la Plata: Contributions for an Intercultural Dialogue” aims at becoming a space for collective reflection on the African contribution to the region –from the historic perspective of the colonial era – which continues to make contributions to its deepest roots.
The seminar will approach one of the most painful and tragic events in the history of human kina: the transatlantic slave trade, a must in the assessment of the wealth of African cultures in past centuries and a way to understand the most profound transformations suffered by African societies in the process, the consequences of which have a lasting impact in the present. Such assessment and mutual knowledge are the core issues in establishing the bases for a necessary renovating intercultural dialogue among the various societies in which the African Diaspora becomes unavoidably relevant.
The two-day Seminar has been conceived in four major presentations and five round tables by specialists from Africa and Latin America. It will be open and free of charge for students, teachers, staff from educational and cultural institutions, reporters, lawmakers, historians, sociologists, anthropologists, teachers, non-governmental institutions related to human rights, diplomats and scholars in general.
Key-note addresses will refer to crucial issues: the relationship between the International Project of The Slave Route and the intercultural dialogue with Africa and Latin America; the African presence in Río de la Plata; lthe African legacy; and the consequences of the slave trade for African societies.
Round tables are organized as follows:
- Slave trade and the unique characteristics of slavery and abolition in the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata.
- Every day life of slaves in Río de la Plata.
- Historic testimonies of slaves in Río de la Plata.
- The African Diaspora and the intangible heritage: music, literature, religion, oral traditions.
- Places of Memory.
On 28 October, after the Seminar, the workshop Places of Memory of “The Slave Route” in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will be held.
Contacts:
Mr. Frédéric Vacheron fvacheron@unesco.org.uy
Culture Programme Specialist
Mrs. Gabriela Pacheco Piñeyro gpacheco@unesco.org.uy
Sector CULTURE
UNESCO Office / Montevideo
More information:
Preliminary Program
Program of the Workshop Places of Memory
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17 August 2009/ UNESCO Office / San José and Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
The UNESCO Office in San José, Costa Rica implemented a Plan of Action for the Safeguarding of the Garifuna language, dance and music, proclaimed by UNESCO as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The Project was funded with Japanese cooperation and was implemented between 2006 and 2009.
The Garifuna communities, settled in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua since the 18th century after they were forced to flee form the island of St. Vincent, have unique cultural traditions, derived from the integration of African and Caribbean elements. Centuries of linguistic and cultural oppression, the isolation of communities and poverty have endangered these traditions.
Safeguarding and revitalizing them is the major objective of the UNESCO Plan of Action which has been implemented until now in 11 communities in Central America. The most important aspects approached have been:
- Revitalization of the Garifuna language, which has led to the compilation of a dictionary of the Garifuna language and to the definition of language and grammar standardization guidelines. Based on these several language handbooks have been prepared for teaching, and have been distributed in the region with training workshops for teachers.
- Development of Garifuna art inventories and archives including songs and music, dance, traditional games and other traditions and customs which have disseminated through itinerant exhibitions and audiovisual reproductions.
- Dissemination and promotion of the Garifuna intangible heritage through festivals and other activities.
The work has been developed in close cooperation with the communities and with their direct participation in drafting strategies and empowering them for the implementation of activities. This has not only brought about the implementation of countless activities, but also the reinforcement of a regional coordination with Garifuna networks already existing and the establishment of a sustainable mechanism for activism in civil society.
These networks and the recently raised awareness on the value of their culture are the major achievements of the Plan of Action as well as the point of departure for future challenges: safeguarding the Garifuna culture and its integration within the official culture to create a true multicultural society.
Contact:
Mrs. Montserrat Martell m.martell@unesco-cr.or
Programme Specialist for Culture
UNESCO / San José
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25 August 2009/ Mr. Simão Souindoula, Vice-president of the International Scientific Committee of the Slave Route
As part of the celebrations in Brazil for the International day of the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, was held in Brasilia, the international seminar Cultural Heritage, Memory and Territory: the African and African-Brazilian case, on 20 and 21 August. Under the central topic “The Kingdom of Congo (13th to 19th centuries): territorial location, ethno linguistic crystallization and Afro-Brazilian Continuity”, the seminar was devoted to the study of one of the most important African communities in history, one which marked the evolution of central Africa between those centuries and that left an important legacy for Brazilian culture, through the men and women enslaved in Brazil who were originally from that region.
With a rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage, Congo contributed significantly to the Black component of the Brazilian national culture. Part of such legacy is shown in the use of the word “Congo”, associated to various aspects of the every day life of slaves, from the title of “Sovereign" (Queens and Kings of Congo), through the use of names (such as the one of the rebel chief of Santa Catarina, Manuel Congo, 1838) to the rituals known as Congadas, Congo dances in Goiás, and the ceremonies of umbanda in Bahía.
In the same way, there are in Brazil many geographical names of Congo origin, such as Cabinda or Cabimda, also synonym of African cults in Maranhão or Pernambuco, the well-known Maracatus. Places of memory like the quilombos, among them the Morro de los Congos, in Minas Gerais, are also examples.
The análisis of the evolution in the Congo region during the period in question, and of its Brazilian continuity, is Prof. of the strength of its cultural roots in the life of those peoples. This is one of the arguments that will support the proclamation by UNESCO of the Kongo dia Ntotela as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Contact:
Mr. Simão Souindoula
Vice-president
International Scientific Committee of the Slave Route
C.P. 2313 Luanda (Angola)
E-mail: souindoulasimao@yahoo.fr; souindoula@voila.fr; bantulink@yahoo.fr
Tel. : + 244 929 74 57 34
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17 August 2009/ UNESCO / San José Office and Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
The UNESCO San José Office in Costa Rica, in collaboration with the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the National Museum of the Member State, presented on 14 August the collection Del Olvido a la Memoria, Africanos and Afromestizos en la historia colonial de Centroamérica (From Oblivion to Memory, Africans and African-Americans in the Colonial History of Central America).
Among other personalities attending the ceremony were Mrs. Montserrat Martell, Culture Specialist at the UNESCO Office; Dr. Yamileth González, President of the UCR; and Nicaraguan writer Sergio Ramírez Mercado, who delivered the lecture “El tambor olvidado” (“The Forgotten Drum”).
UNESCO funded the compilation of the five volumes of educational materials that are part of a Central American initiative aimed at eliminating the ignorance on the influence of populations of African ascent in the region.
Apart from disseminating these materials, UNESCO is promoting its inclusion in the school syllabus in Central American countries. Therefore, it is organizing workshops in each of the countries with the following objectives:
• Validate the contents of the booklets prepared by UNESCO on the African presence in Central America.
• Present teachers with suggestions and recommendations for the work with students, thus promoting learning on the African heritage in each of the countries.
• Obtain recommendations to implement the study of the history, presence and contribution of Africans in Central America in the educational programmes of the respective Ministries of Education.
Contact:
Mrs. Montserrat Martell m.martell@unesco-cr.or
Programme Specialist for Culture
UNESCO / San José
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17 August 2009/ UNESCO / San José Office and Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
For UNESCO, the appreciation of cultural heritage is a critical element in drafting strategies aiming at the development of Member States, providing them at the same time with the opportunity of promoting a sustainable and participative vision of economic and social development. It is thus relevant to establish, to begin with, what are the general features of these cultural manifestations and ventures, and, based on this knowledge, in turn draft policies that would meet the actual needs of the communities taking into account the existing conditions.
With this in mind, the UNESCO/San José Office is working in a Mapping of the cultural expressions and ventures in the Costa Rican province of Limón, one of the poorest and with higher concentration of population of African ascent.
The objective of the project is to identify, register, study and connect the various cultural expressions of the Costa Rican Caribbean coast, as well as the types of cultural and creative ventures existing in the area. The process is being carried out in a participative manner, in which local actors are responsible for identifying and registering cultural expressions and activities.
The mapping will provide the necessary basic information for future decision-making to strengthen actions and policies to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage of Limón and to promote these cultural expressions in a sustainable manner.
Contact:
Mrs. Montserrat Martell m.martell@unesco-cr.org
Programme Specialist for Culture
UNESCO / San José
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20 August 2009/ Fernando Ortiz Foundation and Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
The Fernando Ortiz Foundation, a prestigious Cuban cultural institution, is sponsoring the documentary series The Slave Route, with the objective of remembering the holocaust to which millions of Africans were submitted.
The thirteen episodes of the series will approach the major aspects of the process, and will involve all the countries that suffered or somehow participated in the tragedy in Europe, Africa and America. The main objectives of the project are:
• Build an account of the documental and material heritage and of the most significant cultural expressions that survived and are currently part of the complexities and of the cultural diversity of these countries.
• Make a series that would encourage learning and debate and that would contribute to break the silence imposed on slavery and slave trade. The series would target a general audience.
• Produce knowledge that would raise and consolidate awareness on a South-South identity and promote regional integration.
Contacts:
Lic. Santiago Llapur, Producer
E-mail: sllapur2002@yahoo.es
Mrs. Olga Rufins, National Project Officer for Culture
UNESCO / Havana
E-mail: o.rufins@unesco.org.cu
More information
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20 August 2009/ Scientific Committee of the Forum and Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
As part of the V edition of The Feast of the Origins, the Forum Fernando Ortiz Popular Traditional Culture and National History will be held on 18-20 September 2009 in the city of Matanzas, Cuba.
The Forum, with venue at the Art Academy of Matanzas, will be dedicated this time to the Spanish, African, Chinese, and Haitian influence on Cuban and local culture.
More information
General Program of the Forum
Scientific Program of the Forum
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17 August 2009/ UNESCO Calendar of Events and Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
Following the commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UNESCO is organizing an international symposium on The Haitian Revolution and the Universality of Human Rights in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on 21-23 August 2009.
This symposium is co-organized by the Haitian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO and the UNESCO Office in Port-au-Prince. Under the auspices of UNESCO, the event will also benefit from the patronage of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti.
The meeting in Port-au-Prince, which will include three days of round tables organized by theme, will result in a publication in several languages (French, English, Spanish) and propose concrete and realistic recommendations that aim to establish a better understanding of the contributions of the Haitian Revolution to the universalization of human rights.
Contact:
Arnaud Drouet a.drouet@unesco.org
UNESCO
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18 August 2009/ UNESCO Office / Montevideo and Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
The ratification of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in January 2007 made possible the submission of two manifestations to the tentative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: the Tango and the Candombe, thus acknowledging the great heritage value of these expressions, both with a strong African influence.
The TANGO was submitted jointly by Uruguay and Argentina in September 2008. In the case of Uruguay, the candidacy was launched by the Ministry of Education and Culture, alter an initiative of the Municipal Council of Montevideo; and in the case of Argentina, by the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
The submission to the Tentative List presents the Tango as a choreographic sustainable music and as poetic and performatic art, an older-than-a-century authentic and profound artistic expression in the Río de la Plata. It also includes the milonga, the milonga candombeada and the co-called vals criollo. A creation by the low classes in Río de la Plata, it is a manifestation resulting from the fusion of African-American, Creole and European immigration contributions. It is an artistic and cultural expression resulting from a process of mixture that currently constitutes one of the major features of the Río de la Plata people identity.
On the other hand, the CANDOMBE was submitted to the Tentative List by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay, as “The Candombe and its Socio Cultural space: A Practice by the Community”, with special emphasis in the symbolic and collective African influence of the cultural expression, a product of the oral inter-generational and trans-generational transmission.
The language plays a special role in the field of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, as it is bearer and at the same time manifestation of the cultural diversity. With this in mind, the Project makes emphasis in the drums, which have gradually constructed a collective language, characterized by an ordered system of “calls” and “responses” full of meanings.
These candidacies were submitted in September 2008. In September 2009, the Intergovernmental Committee will make a decision on the inclusion of these and other manifestations in the Tentative List of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Contacts:
Mr. Frédéric Vacheron fvacheron@unesco.org.uy
Culture Programme Specialist
Mrs. Gabriela Pacheco Piñeyro gpacheco@unesco.org.uy
CULTURE Sector
UNESCO Office / Montevideo
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18 August 2009/ UNESCO Office / Montevideo and Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
As part of the commemorations of the International Day of the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, the National UNESCO Commission of Uruguay, together with the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay and the UNESCO/ Montevideo Office, organized on 13 de August the presentation of the UNESCO Project of The Slave Route as a first approach to its implementation in the South American nation.
The program was the following:
- Presentation of “The International Project The Slave Route. Objectives and scope, examples of its implementation in the Latin Caribbean: Places of Memory”, by Mr. Frédéric Vacheron, Culture Specialist, and Mrs. Gabriela Pacheco, also from the Culture Sector of the UNESCO/Montevideo Office.
- Presentation of a first approach to the project “The Slave Route” in Uruguay, and exchange with participants.
- Deciding ways for the inclusion of organizations of African-Uruguayans into the working group.
The UNESCO Project “The Slave Route” aims at breaking the silence on the issue of the transatlantic slave trade by means of a historic research on its causes and dynamics; make emphasis in the collective consequences; and contribute to establishing a culture of tolerance and peaceful coexistence among peoples.
Within this framework, the development of the project in Uruguay aims at promoting reflection on the conditions under which slavery developed in the region, the complex road to abolition and the situation of Afro-descendants after they obtained their freedom.
Contacts:
Lic. Clara Netto unesco@mec.gub.uy
General Secretary
National UNESCO Commission of Uruguay
Mr. Frédéric Vacheron fvacheron@unesco.org.uy
Culture Programme Specialist
Mrs. Gabriela Pacheco Piñeyro gpacheco@unesco.org.uy
CULTURE Sector
UNESCO Office / Montevideo
More information
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The Cuban National Museum of The Slave Route is in the Fortress of San Severino, a unique four-bastion plant with a marked symmetry. This military construction is Renaissance style construction typical of the Spanish fortresses built in America during the 18th century. It is the oldest construction in the city of Matanzas, in the Western region of Cuba.
The construction works began at the same time with the village, shortly alter the Foundation Documents were signed, on 13 October 1693, and concluded by 1734 thanks to the work of thousands of African slaves who were forced to build walls, cave tunnels, dig water cisterns and position the batteries of the fortress.
A most remarkable and unique feature of the building is the marks, still visible, made by the slaves on the stone blocks, so as to facilitate counting and justify to their masters the work carried out every day.
In 1978, the Fortress was declared National Monument of the Republic of Cuba and on 16 June 2009 the Cuban National Museum of the Slave Route was inaugurated.
Contact:
Msc. Isabel Hernández, Director
Address: Carretera del Puerto, Zona Franca, Matanzas
Tel: (53 45) 99-3120 and 28-3259
E-mail: patrim@atenas.cult.cu
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The building dates back to 1887. The upper floors were used as family home and the ground floor was used for tobacco storage. It is located on one of the most important streets of the then Village of San Cristóbal de La Habana.
On 6 January 1986 the Museum opened as Casa Museo de África (Museum of African Heritage) exhibiting a comprehensive ethnographic collection from the African continent which includes over two thousand pieces organized by topic: the slavery; objects and artifacts that belonged to Cuban scholar Don Fernando Ortiz: popular religions; African collections (by cultural manifestation and by country).
As part of the scientific work, the Museum celebrates scientific events, as well as courses and workshops taught by outstanding scholars and researchers specialized in the African or Afro-Cuban topic. The most important event is the Scientific Workshop on Social and Cultural Afro-Cuban Anthropology “Among Cubans”, the 16th edition of which will take place on 5 to 9 January 2010.
Contact:
Dr. Alberto Granado Duque, Director
Address: Obrapía # 157 e/ Mercaderes y San Ignacio, La Habana Vieja
Tel: (53 7) 861- 5798
E-mail: africa@cultural.ohch.cu
More information
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Known as the House of the Stewardess, valuable representation of the eclectic Cuban colonial architecture, the house was built in the mid 19th century and is located in the very heart of the Historic center of the Village of Asunción de Guanabacoa, east of Havana.
The Museum was inaugurated on 26 July 1964 and treasures the most important and comprehensive ethnographic collection on the three major religious cults brought or developed by African slaves or their descendants in Cuba: the Regla de Ocha or Santería, the Regla de Palo or Palo-Monte and the Sociedad Secreta Abakuá )Abakuá Secret Society).
Its cool colonial patio is the venue of frequent sessions of music and dance related to the Afro-Cuban religious rites, as well as other cultural and didactic activities on ethnography in which prestigious personalities in Cuban culture participate.
Contact:
Mrs. María Cristina Peña Reigosa, Directora
Address: Calle Martí no. 108 e/ Versalles y San Antonio,
Guanabacoa, Ciudad de La Habana
Tel: (53 7) 797 9117
E-mail: musgbcoa@cubarte.cult.cu
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Montevideo is still the only city in America with a longest carnival show in the world, which lasts for 45 consecutive days, and is considered as a historic and cultural heritage of the city. Related to the dynamic management of tourism, driving force for development and generation of jobs, it has been declared as of National Interest by the Presidency of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.
The Carnival of Montevideo is of an undoubtedly nature of social integration It promotes the autochthonous culture, as well as the active involvement and inclusion of African descendants favoring at the same time the social and economic conditions for development and prosperity which in turns leads to democracy.
For these reasons, Montevideo counts on a Museum of Carnival which preserves, reclaims exhibits and disseminates the history and tradition of the greatest popular festivity in the country and is inscribed among the so-called “museums of identity”, and is, at the same time, the instrument for assessing Carnival as a unique part of the intangible cultural heritage of Uruguay.
Contact:
Mr. Eduardo Rabelino, Director
Address: Rambla 25 de Agosto de 1825 N° 218 esq. Maciel, Montevideo
Tel.: (598 2) 915 0807, 916 8434
E-mail: museodelcarnaval@gmail.com;
museodelcarnaval@adinet.com.uy
More information:
http://museodelcarnaval.org/
http://museodelcarnavaldeluruguay.blogspot.com/
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A multimedia publication prepared jointly by the UNESCO/Havana and UNESCO/Port-au-Prince Offices, offers comprehensive information about the 25 Places of Memory of the Slave Route identified in Aruba, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, four of them inscribed in UNESCO World heritage List and two in the List of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. A version for the web is posted in the Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean
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The “America marked” and the “Caribbean absolutely defined” by African legacy can be found in the book Dioses Diablos (Devil Gods), in which the author recounts what is owed to the African continent and to its best sons, violently uprooted from their homeland. Dioses Diablos, by writer, journalist and Africa scholar Anadria Caballero, published with the cooperation of the Fundación de Ayuda y Promoción de las Culturas Indígenas (Foundation for the Help and Promotion of Indigenous Cultures) (FAPCI), is a beautifully illustrated account of the two main aspects of Yoruba mythology: a narration of divine origins and the human development either from the African tradition or through the Caribbean view presented in a very unique new way from the various spaces of oral tradition. The presentation took place on 30 June at the Casa de África (Museum of African Heritage) of the Office of the Historian of Havana.
Contact:
Anadria Caballero reglarod@infomed.sld.cu
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