Showing posts with label caribe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label caribe. Show all posts
9.16.2010
9.14.2010
6.03.2010
Classic 1962 ska video
I couldn't resist putting up this 1962 video of ska at Kingston's uptown Club Sombrero with backing band Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, and a hard-skanking cast of hundreds.
Incidentally, I peeped this video at the website of London-based DJ Hugo Mendes, who recently compiled and put out this killer compilation CD called "Tumbélé!" with biguine, afro & latin music from the Guadeloupe and Martinique c. 1963-74 which has had me pretty much hard-skanking around the apto. the last few days myself.
Incidentally, I peeped this video at the website of London-based DJ Hugo Mendes, who recently compiled and put out this killer compilation CD called "Tumbélé!" with biguine, afro & latin music from the Guadeloupe and Martinique c. 1963-74 which has had me pretty much hard-skanking around the apto. the last few days myself.
3.18.2010
2.10.2010
Nuevo CD de Bullerengue de REEF Records
Felicidades al equipo de REEF por otra producción que sale al mercado en estos días. La primera fue de música de Providencia, y ahora se trata del destacado grupo de bullerengue urabeño de Emilsen Pachecho. Detalles abajo…
Congratulations to the folks at REEF for the launch of another CD that will be out in March. Their first was music from the Anglophone Colombian island of Providencia, this new one is the drum music called bullerengue from the Urabá region. Details below...
Bulla! – Emilsen Pacheco y Tradición Bullerenguera de San Juan de Urabá es el primer CD de esta destacada agrupación de música tradicional afrocolombiana, bajo el sello Reef Records. Este experimentado grupo es dirigido por el maestro tambolero Emilsen Pacheco, quien junto con parte de su familia nos brinda una colección de cantos parranderos y toques de tambor pertenecientes a una tradición que se remonta muy atrás en el pasado. En los 16 cortes del CD se puede apreciar el color característico de la música de tambores del Urabá, un sonido profundo y letánico pero muy picante y alegre. Chalupas, fandangos y bullerengues sentaos son expuestos en esta producción que además incluye, no solo temas tradicionales, sino también composiciones del maestro Pacheco y el bullerenguero Wilfrido Valdelamar.
El bullerengue es un lamento alegre. Es la voz de la Diáspora africana en Colombia; la expresión de la vida misma, donde la emocionalidad logra su apogeo en el baile callejero, con el menear de una pollera, el estrepitoso repiqueteo de un tambor, o esa prolongación mágica creada por las gargantas verseadoras experimentadas. La familia Pacheco Blanco, oriunda de
San Juan de Urabá en la costa Caribe Occidental colombiana, es el vivo reflejo de esta ancestralidad primordial.
El CD incluye videoclip y artículo impreso en formato digital .PDF.
LANZAMIENTO Bogotá: 4,5 y 6 de Marzo de 2010 Medellín: 19, 20 y 21 de Marzo de 2010
Congratulations to the folks at REEF for the launch of another CD that will be out in March. Their first was music from the Anglophone Colombian island of Providencia, this new one is the drum music called bullerengue from the Urabá region. Details below...
Bulla! – Emilsen Pacheco y Tradición Bullerenguera de San Juan de Urabá es el primer CD de esta destacada agrupación de música tradicional afrocolombiana, bajo el sello Reef Records. Este experimentado grupo es dirigido por el maestro tambolero Emilsen Pacheco, quien junto con parte de su familia nos brinda una colección de cantos parranderos y toques de tambor pertenecientes a una tradición que se remonta muy atrás en el pasado. En los 16 cortes del CD se puede apreciar el color característico de la música de tambores del Urabá, un sonido profundo y letánico pero muy picante y alegre. Chalupas, fandangos y bullerengues sentaos son expuestos en esta producción que además incluye, no solo temas tradicionales, sino también composiciones del maestro Pacheco y el bullerenguero Wilfrido Valdelamar.
El bullerengue es un lamento alegre. Es la voz de la Diáspora africana en Colombia; la expresión de la vida misma, donde la emocionalidad logra su apogeo en el baile callejero, con el menear de una pollera, el estrepitoso repiqueteo de un tambor, o esa prolongación mágica creada por las gargantas verseadoras experimentadas. La familia Pacheco Blanco, oriunda de
San Juan de Urabá en la costa Caribe Occidental colombiana, es el vivo reflejo de esta ancestralidad primordial.
El CD incluye videoclip y artículo impreso en formato digital .PDF.
LANZAMIENTO Bogotá: 4,5 y 6 de Marzo de 2010 Medellín: 19, 20 y 21 de Marzo de 2010
7.07.2009
Festival de Gwoka y Foro Cultural en Guadeloupe...
Festival de Gwoka and Cultural Forum in Guadeloupe...
6.19.2009
Brooklyn dudes think champeta is cool. (They are right).
Richard (a Communist from Antarctica) likes the art.
And Geko Jones, ("DJ, Poet, Multiculturalist. BX Native BK resident. 100% PUERTOLOMBIAN") of the Dutty Artz collective spins champeta in San Francisco.
And Geko Jones, ("DJ, Poet, Multiculturalist. BX Native BK resident. 100% PUERTOLOMBIAN") of the Dutty Artz collective spins champeta in San Francisco.
5.15.2009
Music from San Andrés and Providencia / Música de San Andrés y Providencia
Music from Colombia's Protestant, English-patois-speaking islands - from mento to ragga.
Música de las islas protestantes, angloparlantes de Colombia, de manto a ragga.
http://www.myspace.com/colombiareefrecords
Música de las islas protestantes, angloparlantes de Colombia, de manto a ragga.
http://www.myspace.com/colombiareefrecords
3.12.2009
2.19.2009
French Caribbean Labor protests: Guadeloupe Strikers Block Roads, Close Airport, Appeal for Solidarity
Guadeloupe Strikers Block Roads, Close Airport, Appeal for Solidarity
1) Appeal to the International Workers' and DemocraticMovements
2) Guadeloupe Strikers Block Roads, Close Airport
(1)
Appeal to the International Workers' and
DemocraticMovements
Liyannaj Kont Pwofitasyon Site officiel du collectifd'organisations syndicales, associatives, politiques & culturelles de Guadeloupewww.lkp-gwa.org
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
As we wrote in our last international appeal ofFebruary 6, 2009: "The bosses and the representativesof the French State are hoping that the general strike
will die down, so that they can then begin therepression."This is visibly the political thinking that promptedthe French State to take action, as they did onFebruary 16.In the face of the obstinate refusal by the FrenchState and the bosses to heed our demands, in the faceof their scorn for the people of Guadeloupe, theLiannaj Kont Pwofitation Strike Collective, or LKP,issued a call to the population on the 28th day of theGeneral Strike to reinforce the picket lines across thecountry. The French State proceeded to repress themovement, seriously injuring one trade union leader,injuring others less seriously, and arresting more than70 activists, including many trade union leaders of theLKP Strike Collective.The population, the workers, the youth have said,"Enough is Enough!" They refuse to give up thestruggle.A number of elected officials protested against thisState violence, which was also denounced by the LKP.The workers, the youth, the people of Guadeloupe havestrengthened their mobilizations on the ground. Theirresolute actions won the freedom of all the jailedactivists.Today, on the 29th day of the general strike [Feb. 17],Guadeloupe is paralyzed by barricades in nearly everycommune.Youth were arrested the night of February 16-17, 2009.This repression is going to continue, as the FrenchState has just sent in a reinforcement of 1,000 mobilepolice troops [to bolster the 4,000 troops sent in onFeb. 7 -- translator's note]. The LKP has issued a callto the population to reinforce their mobilizations.Dear Sisters and Brothers:In the name of international labor solidarity, in thename of democracy, we call upon you once more torequest your support for our just struggle.The workers and people of Guadeloupe have the right tofight for their legitimate demands!
In solidarity,
ADIM - AFOC - AGPIHM - AKIYO - AN BOUT'AY - ANG - ANKA- ASSE - ASS.AGRICULTEURS DU NORD BASSE-TERRE -ASS.LIBERTE EGALITE JUSTICE - CFTC - CGTG - CNL -COMBAT OUVRIER - COMITE DE L'EAU - CONVENTION POUR UNEGUADELOUPE NOUVELLE - COPAGUA - CSFG - CTU - ESPERANCEENVIRONNEMENT - FAEN SNCL - FO - FSU - GIE SBT -KAMODJAKA - KAP Gwadloup - LES VERTS - MADICE - MAS KAKLE - MOUVMAN NONM - PCG - SGEP/SNEC/CFTC - SOS B/TerreENVIRONNEMENT - SPEG - SUD PTT GWA - SUNICAG - SYMPACFDT - TRAVAYE é PEYIZAN - UDCLCV - UIR CFDT - UNSA -UGTG - UPG - UPLG - UMPG - VOukoum-SNUIPP-ADEIC --Guadeloupe, February 17, 2009
(2)
Guadeloupe Strikers Block Roads, Close Airport
Associated Press
February 17, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/02/17/world/AP-CB-French-Caribbean-Unrest.html
BASSE-TERRE, GuadeloupeThe French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe was on theverge of rebellion, a political leader said Tuesdayafter stone-throwing protesters set cars and buildingsablaze, forced the international airport to close andclashed with police.Nearly four weeks of work stoppages and demonstrationsfor lower prices and higher pay have caused thousandsof tourists to flee or cancel holidays on the normallytranquil island, prompting many hotels to close andcruise ships to head elsewhere."It is a political crisis, an institutional crisis andwe are on the brink of sedition," Guadeloupe'sRegional Council President Victorin Lurel told France-Info radio.From Paris, France's Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said the protests had caused "degradation,devastation and confrontations" on Guadeloupe and its
sister island, Martinique, where most shops and officeshave been closed by the protests.She urged "calm, responsibility and restraint" andsaid she hoped for a resumption of talks withprotesters that broke down last week.Police said they arrested 18 people overnight asprotesters burned cars, a library and a boat-rentalstore in Sainte-Anne and Point-a-Pitre. An official,speaking on the standard condition of anonymity, saidat least three officers suffered minor wounds due togunshots fired by looters taking advantage of thechaos.Guadeloupe's main airport was closed Tuesday becauseworkers could not pass through barricaded and debris-clogged roads, said Guadeloupe's top appointedofficial, Nicolas Desforges, and several flights werecanceled.Paris has refused to budge on strikers' demands for a200 euro ($250) monthly raise for low-paid workers whonow make roughly 900 euros ($1,130) a month. Butbusiness leaders in Martinique have agreed to lowerprices by 20 percent on 100 products, including fooditems.Strikers want prices cut on nearly all supermarketproducts -- a step that Stephane Hayot, a spokesman forthe National Union of Wholesale Distributors, said"would represent our death sentence" by forcing themto sell at prices that don't cover their costs.Police detained 50 demonstrators on Monday after theywere pelted by stones as they tried to take downbarricades. Roadblocks were being gradually liftedTuesday morning and a trickle of vehicle traffic wasresuming, the police official said.The U.S. Embassy in Paris issued Americans inGuadeloupe and Martinique to avoid crowds."Most commercial activities have ceased, and there aremounting shortages of food, water, and power on bothislands," the embassy said. "In Guadeloupe there arereports of increasing tensions, with armed gangs
blockading routes and targeting residents and tourists.There have been no reports of U.S. citizens beingspecifically targeted."In Martinique, taxi and bus drivers blocked streets onTuesday and honked their horns as they arrived at cityhall in the capital, Fort-de-France.Lurel warned that the islands were heading toward"radicalization, a rise in extremism.""We have the impression that we have been abandoned,that there is an organized indifference," he told theradio station.
----------Associated Press writers Cecile Brisson in Paris andRodolphe Lamy in Fort-de-France, Martinique contributedto this report.
1) Appeal to the International Workers' and DemocraticMovements
2) Guadeloupe Strikers Block Roads, Close Airport
(1)
Appeal to the International Workers' and
DemocraticMovements
Liyannaj Kont Pwofitasyon Site officiel du collectifd'organisations syndicales, associatives, politiques & culturelles de Guadeloupewww.lkp-gwa.org
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
As we wrote in our last international appeal ofFebruary 6, 2009: "The bosses and the representativesof the French State are hoping that the general strike
will die down, so that they can then begin therepression."This is visibly the political thinking that promptedthe French State to take action, as they did onFebruary 16.In the face of the obstinate refusal by the FrenchState and the bosses to heed our demands, in the faceof their scorn for the people of Guadeloupe, theLiannaj Kont Pwofitation Strike Collective, or LKP,issued a call to the population on the 28th day of theGeneral Strike to reinforce the picket lines across thecountry. The French State proceeded to repress themovement, seriously injuring one trade union leader,injuring others less seriously, and arresting more than70 activists, including many trade union leaders of theLKP Strike Collective.The population, the workers, the youth have said,"Enough is Enough!" They refuse to give up thestruggle.A number of elected officials protested against thisState violence, which was also denounced by the LKP.The workers, the youth, the people of Guadeloupe havestrengthened their mobilizations on the ground. Theirresolute actions won the freedom of all the jailedactivists.Today, on the 29th day of the general strike [Feb. 17],Guadeloupe is paralyzed by barricades in nearly everycommune.Youth were arrested the night of February 16-17, 2009.This repression is going to continue, as the FrenchState has just sent in a reinforcement of 1,000 mobilepolice troops [to bolster the 4,000 troops sent in onFeb. 7 -- translator's note]. The LKP has issued a callto the population to reinforce their mobilizations.Dear Sisters and Brothers:In the name of international labor solidarity, in thename of democracy, we call upon you once more torequest your support for our just struggle.The workers and people of Guadeloupe have the right tofight for their legitimate demands!
In solidarity,
ADIM - AFOC - AGPIHM - AKIYO - AN BOUT'AY - ANG - ANKA- ASSE - ASS.AGRICULTEURS DU NORD BASSE-TERRE -ASS.LIBERTE EGALITE JUSTICE - CFTC - CGTG - CNL -COMBAT OUVRIER - COMITE DE L'EAU - CONVENTION POUR UNEGUADELOUPE NOUVELLE - COPAGUA - CSFG - CTU - ESPERANCEENVIRONNEMENT - FAEN SNCL - FO - FSU - GIE SBT -KAMODJAKA - KAP Gwadloup - LES VERTS - MADICE - MAS KAKLE - MOUVMAN NONM - PCG - SGEP/SNEC/CFTC - SOS B/TerreENVIRONNEMENT - SPEG - SUD PTT GWA - SUNICAG - SYMPACFDT - TRAVAYE é PEYIZAN - UDCLCV - UIR CFDT - UNSA -UGTG - UPG - UPLG - UMPG - VOukoum-SNUIPP-ADEIC --Guadeloupe, February 17, 2009
(2)
Guadeloupe Strikers Block Roads, Close Airport
Associated Press
February 17, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/02/17/world/AP-CB-French-Caribbean-Unrest.html
BASSE-TERRE, GuadeloupeThe French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe was on theverge of rebellion, a political leader said Tuesdayafter stone-throwing protesters set cars and buildingsablaze, forced the international airport to close andclashed with police.Nearly four weeks of work stoppages and demonstrationsfor lower prices and higher pay have caused thousandsof tourists to flee or cancel holidays on the normallytranquil island, prompting many hotels to close andcruise ships to head elsewhere."It is a political crisis, an institutional crisis andwe are on the brink of sedition," Guadeloupe'sRegional Council President Victorin Lurel told France-Info radio.From Paris, France's Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said the protests had caused "degradation,devastation and confrontations" on Guadeloupe and its
sister island, Martinique, where most shops and officeshave been closed by the protests.She urged "calm, responsibility and restraint" andsaid she hoped for a resumption of talks withprotesters that broke down last week.Police said they arrested 18 people overnight asprotesters burned cars, a library and a boat-rentalstore in Sainte-Anne and Point-a-Pitre. An official,speaking on the standard condition of anonymity, saidat least three officers suffered minor wounds due togunshots fired by looters taking advantage of thechaos.Guadeloupe's main airport was closed Tuesday becauseworkers could not pass through barricaded and debris-clogged roads, said Guadeloupe's top appointedofficial, Nicolas Desforges, and several flights werecanceled.Paris has refused to budge on strikers' demands for a200 euro ($250) monthly raise for low-paid workers whonow make roughly 900 euros ($1,130) a month. Butbusiness leaders in Martinique have agreed to lowerprices by 20 percent on 100 products, including fooditems.Strikers want prices cut on nearly all supermarketproducts -- a step that Stephane Hayot, a spokesman forthe National Union of Wholesale Distributors, said"would represent our death sentence" by forcing themto sell at prices that don't cover their costs.Police detained 50 demonstrators on Monday after theywere pelted by stones as they tried to take downbarricades. Roadblocks were being gradually liftedTuesday morning and a trickle of vehicle traffic wasresuming, the police official said.The U.S. Embassy in Paris issued Americans inGuadeloupe and Martinique to avoid crowds."Most commercial activities have ceased, and there aremounting shortages of food, water, and power on bothislands," the embassy said. "In Guadeloupe there arereports of increasing tensions, with armed gangs
blockading routes and targeting residents and tourists.There have been no reports of U.S. citizens beingspecifically targeted."In Martinique, taxi and bus drivers blocked streets onTuesday and honked their horns as they arrived at cityhall in the capital, Fort-de-France.Lurel warned that the islands were heading toward"radicalization, a rise in extremism.""We have the impression that we have been abandoned,that there is an organized indifference," he told theradio station.
----------Associated Press writers Cecile Brisson in Paris andRodolphe Lamy in Fort-de-France, Martinique contributedto this report.
2.16.2009
The West Indian Roots of Hip Hop
Presented by City Lore and The Point CDC
Bring Out the Sound System
The West Indian Roots of Hip Hop
Saturday, February 28th, 2009, 3pm - 6pm
Free and Open to the Public
The Point CDC
940 Garrison Avenue in the Bronx NY 10474
Dr. Natasha Lightfoot of the Bronx African-American Oral History Project, will lead a discussion featuring hip hop pioneers and legends including DJ Kool Herc, Kool DJ Red Alert, Ralph McDaniels (Video Music Box) and VP Records co-founder, Patricia Chin. VP Records (named after founders Patricia and Vincent) was founded 50 years ago as a record store in Kingston called Randy's Record Mart, at a time when reggae existed only on the streets with DJs improvising toasts over the music, and large speaker systems brought out into the parks. They went on to record many of the DJ and reggae legends in Jamaica. Writers from the bi-monthly journal, Wax Poetics, will also be on hand to take part in the discussion.
The discussion will be followed by a demonstration on Jamaican and hip hop sound systems from the 1970s by DJ Kool Herc and Brother Vincent. The evening concludes with a reception, where audience members can view: From Mambo to Hip Hop: The Exhibit, a photo exhibit which complements City Lore's award-winning documentary directed by Henry Chalfant, From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale; dance to the music of DJ Just Ice; and purchase West Indian fare provided by Bascom Catering with delicious roti, jerk and curry chicken, and salt fish.
For more information, please call City Lore at 212.529.1955 ext 306 or The Point at 718.542.4139 ext 27.
Train direction to The Point: 6 Train to Hunt's Point. Walk underneath the Bruckner overpass and take a left onto Garrison. The Point is one block down on your left.
Funded by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and The Scherman Foundation. Publicity, Tools of War.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Graffiti: Freddy Sepulveda; Photo: Henry Chalfant; Design by Beth Higgins and Paco Levine
City Lore www.citylore.org 72 East 1st St. New York, NY 10003 t 212.529.1955 f 212.529.5062 e info@citylore.org
3.31.2008
Conference: Race in the Transnational Caribbean
In an attempt to develop an intellectual space for inter-disciplinary perspectives on Latinos and race, the Department of Latino and Hispanic Caribbean Studies has organized a day-long conference that will begin with a panel in which three scholars, Ginetta Candelario (Smith College), Jorge Duany (University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras), and Isar Godreau (University of Puerto Rico - Cayey) will showcase work on various topics related to race in the Caribbean and Caribbean communities in the U.S.
Through this conference we hope to begin a process of developing dialogues that transcend the traditional Black-white U.S. racial binary and recognize the nuanced ways in which Latinos have come to impact the country’s racial landscape.
The public panel is open to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and staff.
Coordinated by Ana Yolanda Ramos-Zayas & Carlos Decena
Department of Latino & Hispanic Caribbean Studies
Rutgers University/New Brunswick-Piscataway
Co-sponsored by the Center for Race & Ethnicity
Date: Friday, April 4, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm
Place: Graduate Student Lounge
College Avenue Campus Center
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
For more information contact
The Department of Latino & Hispanic Caribbean Studies at 732-445-3820
http://latcar.rutgers.edu
Through this conference we hope to begin a process of developing dialogues that transcend the traditional Black-white U.S. racial binary and recognize the nuanced ways in which Latinos have come to impact the country’s racial landscape.
The public panel is open to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and staff.
Coordinated by Ana Yolanda Ramos-Zayas & Carlos Decena
Department of Latino & Hispanic Caribbean Studies
Rutgers University/New Brunswick-Piscataway
Co-sponsored by the Center for Race & Ethnicity
Date: Friday, April 4, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm
Place: Graduate Student Lounge
College Avenue Campus Center
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
For more information contact
The Department of Latino & Hispanic Caribbean Studies at 732-445-3820
http://latcar.rutgers.edu
3.16.2008
Biografía del gaitero Paíto
Reproducido de Cambio.com. Archivo personal.Este artíclo sobre esta figura fundamental de la gaita colombo-caribeña y frecuente acompañante del recientemente fallecido "El Diablo" Encarnación Tovar salió en Revista Cambio hace poco. Va estar en Bogotá la semana que viene.
HABLAR DE GAITAS se puso de moda gracias al Grammy que le fue entregado a Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto. Pues bien, la tradición de este instrumento es de vieja data y junto a Los Gaiteros hay otros músicos similares que han servido de inspiración a los compositores e intérpretes de hoy, quienes han logrado darle un nuevo estatus a la música colombiana. Grupos como Curupira, por sólo citar uno entre tantos, se han dedicado a rescatar la tradición colombiana para mezclar los ritmos locales con el jazz el rock o el hip hop.
Uno de los músicos que más ha influido en las nuevas generaciones es Sixto Silgado, más conocido como Paíto, a quien los jóvenes músicos le deben la manera de interpretar la gaita así como su uso en grandes escenarios y su experimentación con otros materiales y ritmos. Ejemplo de ello es José Eljach, del grupo Los de la Vereda, de Cartagena, quien anda utilizando el instrumento para hacer reggae.
La historia de Silgado se remonta a 1939, cuando nació en Flamenco, corregimiento de María la Baja, Bolívar, una región imbuida por la tradición negra, a pesar de contar con la presencia de los indígenas de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Flamenco se dejó permear por ritmos como el son gracias a los cultivos de caña en donde trabajaron muchos cubanos. Su padre, gaitero también, quería que Paíto tocara la gaita macho, mientras él interpretaba la hembra. La macho respalda la melodía creada por la hembra y se acompaña con maraca. Pero rápidamente fue claro que Silgado quería ser la cabeza, no el acompañante, por eso se rebeló y escapó hacia la Boquilla, Chambacú y Barú, donde reside actualmente, para poder tocar a su libre albedrío.
Se fue con Encarnación Tovar, El Diablo, otro de esos íconos de la música popular que no ha sido lo suficientemente reconocido fuera de las esferas de los especialistas. Su fuerza para tocar es única y es lo que gusta tanto a los nuevos músicos. Adaptaron con su instrumento cumbias, merengues, música pelayera y fandangos. Aunque El Diablo falleció en 2000, sobrevive Paíto y hará conciertos el 17 y 19 de marzo en la Ciudad Teatro, donde se volverá a encontrar con José Borré, que cantaba con ellos también en los festivales.
Un homenaje en vida que bien vale la pena, porque este hombre puede ponerse a la altura de Adolfo Pacheco, Alejo Durán, la niña Julia y hasta Escalona, por la cantidad de música original con la que cuenta y su influencia en las nuevas generaciones.
HISTORIA DE LA GAITA
Es un instrumento típicamente colombiano, de su costa caribe. Originalmente se llama kuisi sigi (la gaita hembra) y kuisi bunci (macho), gracias a los kogis, aunque también se le conoce como carrizo. Se le atribuye su característica sonora a los materiales con el que está hecha, que es corazón de cactus, con el que se hace la flauta, cera de abeja montuna y carbón vegetal, para la cabeza, y pluma de pato, para la boquilla. Su estructura cónica hace que la presión del aire produzca, además, un sonido único de este instrumento.
3.10.2008
Murió Pedro Arturo 'Pello' Torres, uno de sus máximos exponentes del porro y la música tropical
De El Tiempo:
Marzo 10 de 2008
Murió Pedro Arturo 'Pello' Torres, uno de sus máximos exponentes del porro y la música tropical
Torres nació en 1924 en Barranca Nueva (Bolívar), pero desde 1960 se estableció en Sincelejo en donde fundó la agrupación 'Los Diablos del Ritmo'.
A raíz de la fama que adquirió se ganó un sitial de honor no solo en la Costa Caribe, sino en el resto del país, al lado de figuras legendarias como Pacho Galán y Lucho Bermúdez.
Entre sus cantos reconocidos está 'Dame un besito, Manuela'.
Hace pocos días, Torres permaneció internado en una unidad de cuidados intensivos de una clínica privada tras ser atropellado por una motocicleta en una calle de Sincelejo.
La muerte le sobrevino por quebrantos de salud en su vivienda, ubicada en el barrio El Zumbido, en la Capital de Sucre.
SINCELEJO
1.29.2008
Cultura Afrolatina en Londres/Afro-Latin Culture in London
Un evento super-interesante en Londres para celebrar las culturas afrolatinas. Habrán conciertos, talleres, exhibiciones, y charlas académicas. Entre los que están programados para los eventos del festival están el profesor Peter Wade, el músico guapireño Emeris Solís (hermano de la reconocida cantadora Benigna), el activista y cultor afrovenezolano Chucho García, y mi persona. Están todos invitados. Detalles del evento están abajo.
A very interesting event in London to celebrate Afro-Latin culture. There will be concerts, workshops, exhibitions, and academic talks. Among the events will be presentations by Dr. Peter Wade (author of Music, Race, and Nation, among other brilliant works), Afro-Pacific musician Emeris Solís, the Afro-Venezuelan activist and author Chucho García, and myself. If you're in London, stop by. Details of the event are below.
C I M A R R ó N!
A Celebration of the African Cultural Legacy in Latin America
11th to 23rd FEBRUARY 2008 FREE EVENT
www.cimarronfestival.com / info@cimarronfestival.com
Last year saw important celebrations of the bi-centenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the English-speaking world. Our event has been designed to address such a historical occasion from a Latin American perspective, by highlighting and celebrating the African cultural legacy in Latin America.
Latin America is the synthesis of various peoples, races and cultures merged together into one, after a painful and inhumane process brought about by the colonization of the so-called New World with the transportation and enslavement of Africans as well as the Indigenous peoples. Latin American countries with their unique syncretistic culture have come to realize their true identity. Africa has undoubtedly played an important, vital, but often overlooked and forgotten role.
Africa’s influence is ever present in the cultural make up of Latin America. The ‘cimarrón’ or runaway African slave symbolizes for us the free and live spirit of Africa in Latin America, hence the name for our event where we will pay homage to its cultural legacy. It is their contribution, together with the Amerindian and European that make Latin America so special and unique.
CIMARRON! will take place on the 11th to 23rd February 2008 in Canning House, Bolivar Hall, Conway Hall, SOAS University and other smaller venues across London, this will be a free for all special event that will celebrate the African cultural legacy in Latin America, through music, dance, art, film, ethnicity and culture as a whole. The event will feature:
- Cultural lectures by renowned academics, such as Peter Wade (Manchester University), Matthias Rohrig Assuncao (Essex University), Alessandra Basso Ortiz (UCL, London), Michael Birenbaum (New York University), Jesus Garcia (Venezuela)
- Music and dance workshops by renowned UK based Latin musicians and dance specialists: Bosco de Oliveira (Brazil), Emeris Solis (Colombia), Wilmer Sifontes (Venezuela), Jim Le Mesurier (Britain), Flavia Chevez (Peru), Lazaro Lopez (Cuba), Miriam Ojeda (Colombia), Yuli Fuentes (Vasallos del Sol – Venezuela)
- Films and videos
- Photographic exhibitions: Lenin Arvelo (Venezuela) about the ritual of mask making and the importance of the devil in the traditional celebrations of ‘Los Diablos Danzantes de Yare’ in Miranda State, Venezuela; Iona Hogendoorn’s work (Holland) pays homage to the courage of an Afro-Colombian peace community in the rainforest near the Pacific coast, ‘La Comunidad de Paz de Cacarica’
- Music and dance performances by various Latin American artists and community groups representing different countries
CIMARRON! is organized by Bambuco Dance Project, Ola Latina and PercuDance and is funded and sponsored by Awards for All and Festival Encuentro Latino, with support from Canning House, Bolivar Hall and SOAS University.
For more information, please contact:
Luz Elena Caicedo , luzesabroso@yahoo.es / +44 (0)7956 495 179
Leoncio Caicedo, info@olalatina.co.uk / +44 (0)7950 507 798
CIMARRON FESTIVAL
PROGRAMME
11th Feb Canning House 6.30pm – Lecture and discussion
‘Music, Race and Nation in Colombia: Musica Tropical in Colombia’ Peter Wade, Manchester University
Long a favorite on dance floors in Latin America, the porro, cumbia, and vallenato styles that make up Colombia's música tropical are now enjoying international success. How did this music-which has
its roots in a black, marginal region of the country-manage, from the 1940s onward, to become so popular in a nation that had prided itself on its white heritage? Peter Wade explores the history of música tropical, analyzing its rise in the context of the development of the broadcast media, rapid urbanization, and regional struggles for power.
Using archival sources and oral histories, Wade shows how big band renditions of cumbia and porro in the 1940s and 1950s suggested both old traditions and new liberties, especially for women, speaking to a deeply rooted image of black music as sensuous. Recently, nostalgic, "whitened" versions of música tropical have gained popularity as part of government-sponsored multiculturalism.
Photographic Exhibition: ‘The Colours of Cacarica’ Iona Hogendoorn
From 11th Feb to 16th Feb Canning House Library. Times: 2pm – 6pm on following days
Iona Hogendoorn’s exhibition pays homage to the courage of an Afro-Colombian peace community in their struggle for survival amid the violence they experience regularly in the rainforest, near the Pacific coast. Cacarica, designated a Peace Community, is situated exactly in the spot where they plan to complete the Pan-American Highway, this and other mega-projects: an inter-oceanic canal, wood, palm oil (bio-diesel), make this a very valuable stretch of land for various powerful groups, including the National Army, who fight over its control and ownership.
12th Feb Canning House 6.30pm – Book Launch, lecture and discussion
’Los Ganga en Cuba’ Alessandra Basso Ortiz, UCL
The Ganga Longoba is a kin related community of African descent settled in the town of Perico, in thecounty of Matanzas in Cuba. They practice a religion that in many aspects resembles other Afro-Cuban religions but which they claim to be idiosyncratic. Alessandra Basso Ortiz, examines how religious tradition and group identity were forged among the Ganga Longoba, and what enabled an ethnogenic process to take place.
8pm VIDEO: ‘Esclavo, Cimarron y Guerrero’ Cuba 2000, Spanish (no sub-titles) 27 minutes, Ernesto Daranas & Rolando Almirante (Canning House)
The story of Esteban Montejo the last cimarron in Cuba, 103 years old in 1963 started recounting his life to Cuban writer Miguel Barnet, how he was brought from Africa as a slave, how he ran away and lived as a ‘cimarron’ and later was part of the Cuban liberating Mambi Army.
13th Feb Canning House – Lecture and discussion 6.30pm
‘The Abolition of Slavery in Brazil: Memory and Historiography’
Matthias Rohrig Assuncao (University of Essex)
The public perception of the Abolition of slavery in Brazil has changed dramatically over the last twenty years. The older historiography described it as a generous act of philanthropy by princess-regent Isabel or as the result of an urban, middle-class led abolitionist movement. The Brazilian Black Movement, in contrast, has emphasized the enslaved own struggle for freedom, and has elected the maroon leader Zumbi as the symbol of Black resistance.
The more recent historiography has also highlighted the importance of slave agency in the process that led to abolition. Yet at the same time the growing visibility of Afro-Brazilian culture has brought to the foreground the songs of black communities of the interior that praise princess Isabel and insist in celebrating the 13th of May, date of the Golden Law she signed in 1888. The lecture will introduce those complex and fascinating developments, where history and memory of Abolition are subject to permanent re-elaborations.
8pm VIDEO: ‘Memorias do Cativeiro’ (Memories of captivity) – Hebe Maria Mattos, Ana Maria Lugao Rios – Brazil 2005, 42 minutes (Canning House)
18th Feb Bolivar Hall - 6.30pm (t.b.c)
Afro-Venezuelan music workshop with Wilmer Sifontes
7.30pm VIDEO: ‘Los Dioses del Futuro’ – Cuba 1992, 55 minutes, Spanish (no subtitles) TVC
Documentary about different traditional and folk music and dance celebrations in various Afro-Caribbean countries: Venezuela, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti.
18th Feb SOAS UNIVERSITY – 7PM Lecture and discussion, Room G3
Lecture and discussion about Afro-Cuban music
18th Feb to 23th Feb Canning House Library. Times: 2pm – 6pm Photographic Exhibition: ‘Mask making and Los Diablos Danzantes de Yare in Miranda, Venezuela’ Lenin Arvelo
Arvelo’s work deals with mask making and the importance of the devil in Venezuelan folkloric culture.
20th Feb SOAS UNIVERSITY 7pm – Lecture and discussion, Room G3
‘The Development of Samba Music in Brazil’ Bosco de Oliveira
21st Feb Conway Hall – Afro-Peruvian Evening
6.30pm Afro-Peruvian dance workshop with Flavia Chevez
7.15pm Afro-Peruvian percussion workshop with Jim Le Mesurieur
8pm VIDEO: ‘Zapateo con clase’ – Documentary about Afro-Peruvian tap dancing – Flavia Chevez
22nd Feb Conway Hall – Afro-Colombian Evening
6.30pm (room 1) Afro-Colombian dance workshop with Miriam O. Patino
6.30pm (room 2) Afro-Colombian percussion workshop with Emeris Solis
7.30pm (room 1) Lecture and discussion
‘Abosaos, Lumbalús and Patacorés: Afro-Colombian Musical Practice at the Fringes of the Diaspora’ Michael Birenbaum Quintero, New York University
Although Colombia has the third largest black population in the Americas, the cultural expressions of black Colombians are largely unknown. This talk will describe the varied musical practices of black communities across Colombia, including the Caribbean coast, Chocó province, the runaway slave community of San Basilio de Palenque, and the Cauca Valley, with particular focus on the music of the southern Pacific coast.
This talk will examine the historical processes of retention and syncretism that have formed traditional Afro-Colombian practices and linked them to Colombian music in general, extending this discussion into the field of the newer popular musics that have been created and/or embraced by black Colombians. Finally, the presentation will touch on some of the reasons for the marginalization of Afro-Colombian musical forms both in Colombia and abroad, and the ways this marginalization is being resisted and counteracted.
23rd Feb Conway Hall 6pm – 12pm
MUSIC AND DANCE FESTIVAL CELEBRATION
Music and dance showcases by UK based Afro-Latin American groups representing Cuba, Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Venezuela, starting with an Afro-Cuban dance workshop in the main hall with Lazaro Lopez and an Afro-Cuban percussion workshop in room 3 at 6pm. In addition, there will be videos, arts and crafts and Latin American food and drink.
A very interesting event in London to celebrate Afro-Latin culture. There will be concerts, workshops, exhibitions, and academic talks. Among the events will be presentations by Dr. Peter Wade (author of Music, Race, and Nation, among other brilliant works), Afro-Pacific musician Emeris Solís, the Afro-Venezuelan activist and author Chucho García, and myself. If you're in London, stop by. Details of the event are below.
C I M A R R ó N!A Celebration of the African Cultural Legacy in Latin America
11th to 23rd FEBRUARY 2008 FREE EVENT
www.cimarronfestival.com / info@cimarronfestival.com
Last year saw important celebrations of the bi-centenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the English-speaking world. Our event has been designed to address such a historical occasion from a Latin American perspective, by highlighting and celebrating the African cultural legacy in Latin America.
Latin America is the synthesis of various peoples, races and cultures merged together into one, after a painful and inhumane process brought about by the colonization of the so-called New World with the transportation and enslavement of Africans as well as the Indigenous peoples. Latin American countries with their unique syncretistic culture have come to realize their true identity. Africa has undoubtedly played an important, vital, but often overlooked and forgotten role.
Africa’s influence is ever present in the cultural make up of Latin America. The ‘cimarrón’ or runaway African slave symbolizes for us the free and live spirit of Africa in Latin America, hence the name for our event where we will pay homage to its cultural legacy. It is their contribution, together with the Amerindian and European that make Latin America so special and unique.
CIMARRON! will take place on the 11th to 23rd February 2008 in Canning House, Bolivar Hall, Conway Hall, SOAS University and other smaller venues across London, this will be a free for all special event that will celebrate the African cultural legacy in Latin America, through music, dance, art, film, ethnicity and culture as a whole. The event will feature:
- Cultural lectures by renowned academics, such as Peter Wade (Manchester University), Matthias Rohrig Assuncao (Essex University), Alessandra Basso Ortiz (UCL, London), Michael Birenbaum (New York University), Jesus Garcia (Venezuela)
- Music and dance workshops by renowned UK based Latin musicians and dance specialists: Bosco de Oliveira (Brazil), Emeris Solis (Colombia), Wilmer Sifontes (Venezuela), Jim Le Mesurier (Britain), Flavia Chevez (Peru), Lazaro Lopez (Cuba), Miriam Ojeda (Colombia), Yuli Fuentes (Vasallos del Sol – Venezuela)
- Films and videos
- Photographic exhibitions: Lenin Arvelo (Venezuela) about the ritual of mask making and the importance of the devil in the traditional celebrations of ‘Los Diablos Danzantes de Yare’ in Miranda State, Venezuela; Iona Hogendoorn’s work (Holland) pays homage to the courage of an Afro-Colombian peace community in the rainforest near the Pacific coast, ‘La Comunidad de Paz de Cacarica’
- Music and dance performances by various Latin American artists and community groups representing different countries
CIMARRON! is organized by Bambuco Dance Project, Ola Latina and PercuDance and is funded and sponsored by Awards for All and Festival Encuentro Latino, with support from Canning House, Bolivar Hall and SOAS University.
For more information, please contact:
Luz Elena Caicedo , luzesabroso@yahoo.es / +44 (0)7956 495 179
Leoncio Caicedo, info@olalatina.co.uk / +44 (0)7950 507 798
CIMARRON FESTIVAL
PROGRAMME
11th Feb Canning House 6.30pm – Lecture and discussion
‘Music, Race and Nation in Colombia: Musica Tropical in Colombia’ Peter Wade, Manchester University
Long a favorite on dance floors in Latin America, the porro, cumbia, and vallenato styles that make up Colombia's música tropical are now enjoying international success. How did this music-which has
its roots in a black, marginal region of the country-manage, from the 1940s onward, to become so popular in a nation that had prided itself on its white heritage? Peter Wade explores the history of música tropical, analyzing its rise in the context of the development of the broadcast media, rapid urbanization, and regional struggles for power.
Using archival sources and oral histories, Wade shows how big band renditions of cumbia and porro in the 1940s and 1950s suggested both old traditions and new liberties, especially for women, speaking to a deeply rooted image of black music as sensuous. Recently, nostalgic, "whitened" versions of música tropical have gained popularity as part of government-sponsored multiculturalism.
Photographic Exhibition: ‘The Colours of Cacarica’ Iona Hogendoorn
From 11th Feb to 16th Feb Canning House Library. Times: 2pm – 6pm on following days
Iona Hogendoorn’s exhibition pays homage to the courage of an Afro-Colombian peace community in their struggle for survival amid the violence they experience regularly in the rainforest, near the Pacific coast. Cacarica, designated a Peace Community, is situated exactly in the spot where they plan to complete the Pan-American Highway, this and other mega-projects: an inter-oceanic canal, wood, palm oil (bio-diesel), make this a very valuable stretch of land for various powerful groups, including the National Army, who fight over its control and ownership.
12th Feb Canning House 6.30pm – Book Launch, lecture and discussion
’Los Ganga en Cuba’ Alessandra Basso Ortiz, UCL
The Ganga Longoba is a kin related community of African descent settled in the town of Perico, in thecounty of Matanzas in Cuba. They practice a religion that in many aspects resembles other Afro-Cuban religions but which they claim to be idiosyncratic. Alessandra Basso Ortiz, examines how religious tradition and group identity were forged among the Ganga Longoba, and what enabled an ethnogenic process to take place.
8pm VIDEO: ‘Esclavo, Cimarron y Guerrero’ Cuba 2000, Spanish (no sub-titles) 27 minutes, Ernesto Daranas & Rolando Almirante (Canning House)
The story of Esteban Montejo the last cimarron in Cuba, 103 years old in 1963 started recounting his life to Cuban writer Miguel Barnet, how he was brought from Africa as a slave, how he ran away and lived as a ‘cimarron’ and later was part of the Cuban liberating Mambi Army.
13th Feb Canning House – Lecture and discussion 6.30pm
‘The Abolition of Slavery in Brazil: Memory and Historiography’
Matthias Rohrig Assuncao (University of Essex)
The public perception of the Abolition of slavery in Brazil has changed dramatically over the last twenty years. The older historiography described it as a generous act of philanthropy by princess-regent Isabel or as the result of an urban, middle-class led abolitionist movement. The Brazilian Black Movement, in contrast, has emphasized the enslaved own struggle for freedom, and has elected the maroon leader Zumbi as the symbol of Black resistance.
The more recent historiography has also highlighted the importance of slave agency in the process that led to abolition. Yet at the same time the growing visibility of Afro-Brazilian culture has brought to the foreground the songs of black communities of the interior that praise princess Isabel and insist in celebrating the 13th of May, date of the Golden Law she signed in 1888. The lecture will introduce those complex and fascinating developments, where history and memory of Abolition are subject to permanent re-elaborations.
8pm VIDEO: ‘Memorias do Cativeiro’ (Memories of captivity) – Hebe Maria Mattos, Ana Maria Lugao Rios – Brazil 2005, 42 minutes (Canning House)
18th Feb Bolivar Hall - 6.30pm (t.b.c)
Afro-Venezuelan music workshop with Wilmer Sifontes
7.30pm VIDEO: ‘Los Dioses del Futuro’ – Cuba 1992, 55 minutes, Spanish (no subtitles) TVC
Documentary about different traditional and folk music and dance celebrations in various Afro-Caribbean countries: Venezuela, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti.
18th Feb SOAS UNIVERSITY – 7PM Lecture and discussion, Room G3
Lecture and discussion about Afro-Cuban music
18th Feb to 23th Feb Canning House Library. Times: 2pm – 6pm Photographic Exhibition: ‘Mask making and Los Diablos Danzantes de Yare in Miranda, Venezuela’ Lenin Arvelo
Arvelo’s work deals with mask making and the importance of the devil in Venezuelan folkloric culture.
20th Feb SOAS UNIVERSITY 7pm – Lecture and discussion, Room G3
‘The Development of Samba Music in Brazil’ Bosco de Oliveira
21st Feb Conway Hall – Afro-Peruvian Evening
6.30pm Afro-Peruvian dance workshop with Flavia Chevez
7.15pm Afro-Peruvian percussion workshop with Jim Le Mesurieur
8pm VIDEO: ‘Zapateo con clase’ – Documentary about Afro-Peruvian tap dancing – Flavia Chevez
22nd Feb Conway Hall – Afro-Colombian Evening
6.30pm (room 1) Afro-Colombian dance workshop with Miriam O. Patino
6.30pm (room 2) Afro-Colombian percussion workshop with Emeris Solis
7.30pm (room 1) Lecture and discussion
‘Abosaos, Lumbalús and Patacorés: Afro-Colombian Musical Practice at the Fringes of the Diaspora’ Michael Birenbaum Quintero, New York University
Although Colombia has the third largest black population in the Americas, the cultural expressions of black Colombians are largely unknown. This talk will describe the varied musical practices of black communities across Colombia, including the Caribbean coast, Chocó province, the runaway slave community of San Basilio de Palenque, and the Cauca Valley, with particular focus on the music of the southern Pacific coast.
This talk will examine the historical processes of retention and syncretism that have formed traditional Afro-Colombian practices and linked them to Colombian music in general, extending this discussion into the field of the newer popular musics that have been created and/or embraced by black Colombians. Finally, the presentation will touch on some of the reasons for the marginalization of Afro-Colombian musical forms both in Colombia and abroad, and the ways this marginalization is being resisted and counteracted.
23rd Feb Conway Hall 6pm – 12pm
MUSIC AND DANCE FESTIVAL CELEBRATION
Music and dance showcases by UK based Afro-Latin American groups representing Cuba, Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Venezuela, starting with an Afro-Cuban dance workshop in the main hall with Lazaro Lopez and an Afro-Cuban percussion workshop in room 3 at 6pm. In addition, there will be videos, arts and crafts and Latin American food and drink.
9.24.2007
CFP: Cumbia(s) transnacional(es)
Este correo me llegó del doctor Héctor Fernández L'Hoeste de Georgia State University.
This email is from Héctor Fernández L'Hoeste of Georgia State.
***
Estimados colegas:
This email is from Héctor Fernández L'Hoeste of Georgia State.
***
Estimados colegas:
Reciban un cordial saludo desde Atlanta, Georgia.
Les escribo con el fin de solicitar propuestas para una compilación de artículos sobre cumbia. En vez de circular una convocatoria general, he optado por circular este llamado entre colegas cuyo trabajo ha estado relacionado —de una u otra manera— con el tema de la cumbia. De ser necesario, circularía luego una convocatoria de manera más amplia. En caso de que sepan de alguien más cuyo trabajo sugiera puntos de contacto con el tema de la cumbia, les agradezco servir de enlace.
El proyecto busca textos que versen sobre la experiencia nacional/transnacional de la cumbia (Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, EE.UU., etc.) y su influencia en asuntos de raza, clase o género. Las propuestas iniciales deberán incluir un resumen breve (300 palabras) de la argumentación y el contexto del artículo a seguir. Las versiones finales serán en el formato de la U. de Chicago (notas al final del capítulo, texto exento de citas en paréntesis), de 20-25 páginas de longitud y deberán estar listas hacia abril de 2008.
Agradezco su interés en esta colección de artículos. A mi parecer, el tema de la cumbia amerita un estudio más detallado desde hace rato. Mil gracias por su atención al presente mensaje y una pronta respuesta.
Atentamente,
Héctor Fernández L'Hoeste
Greetings from Atlanta, GA.
I'm writing you to request proposals for a volume on cumbia and transnationalism. Rather than circulate a general call for papers, I've compiled a list of e-mail addresses of individuals with solid academic and/or musical credentials, whose work has—at one point or another—touched upon matter related to cumbia; initially, I will rely on your response. In case you know of someone whose work sounds appealing for this project, I'd appreciate it greatly if you could serve as contact.
The project seeks to include texts that verse on the transnational experience of cumbia (Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, the United States, etc.) and its influence on issues of race, class, and gender. Initial proposals should include a brief statement (300 words) delineating the general argument and context of the suggested text. Final versions should follow the U. of Chicago style; manuscripts should be double-spaced, between 20-25 pages in length, and would be due in late winter/early spring 2008.
I hope that you're interested in this project. I believe that a volume on the cultural implications of cumbia within national and transnational contexts is long overdue. I appreciate your attention to this message and look forward to a prompt response.
Best,
Héctor Fernández L'Hoeste
Héctor D. Fernández L'Hoeste, Ph.D.
Associate professor, Latin American culture
Department of Modern & Classical Languages
Georgia State University
38 Peachtree Center Ave # 873
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 404.413.6593; fax: 404.413.5982
E-mail: fernandez@gsu.edu; Skype: bubusdad
9.13.2007
Peter Wade Interview on Música Costeña
Afropop.org has discovered Colombian music - it's been a long time coming but there seems to be a critical mass building around Colombian music in New York, so they went and sought out the expert - English anthropologist Peter Wade. The interview can be found at
http://www.afropop.org/multi/interview/ID/114/
8.31.2007
"Infinite Island" Caribbean art in B/klyn
There's a new exhibit of contemporary art from the Caribbean at the Brooklyn Museum. From the Times review (link):
"If identity-based art was just a passing fad for the New York art establishment, it necessarily remains of considerable interest to a wider world.
How such art can be persuasively presented is, of course, the question. The thematic categories Mr. Mosaka applies to the show — religion, politics, memory, popular culture — have been used in countless shows. They are clichés by now, perceptual straitjackets rather than enlightening guides. As conceptual models, they require rethinking, as does the model some of the art follows."
8.11.2007
US increasingly irrelevent in cultural scene
This from Ned Sublette:
ten years ago, new york was a place that was not-havana-not-miami where
cultural interchange could happen freely. not now. no cuban musicians
have
been allowed into this country since 2003. and with presidential
candidates
still -- unbelievably but predictably -- arguing about who can get
toughest
with castro, improvement is not in sight any time soon. talk about
deteriorating infrastructure -- the united states is increasingly
irrelevant
to the flow of world culture.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/world/europe/03madrid.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
7.04.2007
Gwo ka de Guadeloupe
En estos días he sido invitado a participar en un evento de la Unesco que va a tener lugar durante Le Festival de Gwoka en la isla caribeña francesa de Guadeloupe. Les dejo con un poco de Gwo Ka ("ka" es el tambor, y "gwo", la palabra que usan en el patois local para "gros" en francés o "gran" en español) para que se me lo envidien. Y de ahí a la linda costa pacífica de Colombia. Nos vemos en agosto!
I've been invited to participate in a Unesco conference (all expenses, son!) that's going to be held during the Festival of Gwoka in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. So I'll leave you with some Gwo Ka ("ka" is drum and "gwo" the Creole word for the French "gros" or English "big") so that you could feel for my horrible plight. Then a few weeks in my beloved Pacific coast of Colombia. See you in August.
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