Diapositiva 1

When focusing on (more or less) formalized institutions that present heritage
to the public (museums and festivals): when do these succeed to increase people’s
understanding of each other? The Caribbean case.
‘
Dr. Roberto Valcárcel Rojas
Posdoctoral researcher
ERC-Synergy Project NEXUS1492
Leiden University-CITMA, Cuba
International expert meeting
Evidence based heritage policies for inclusive societies
7 & 8 May 2015, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden
FESTIVALS
FESTIVAL
1. A sacred or profane time of celebration,
marked by special observances.
2. The annual celebration of a notable person,
deity or event, or the harvest of an important
product.
3. A cultural event consisting of a series of
performances of works in the fine arts, often
devoted to a single artist or genre.
4. A fair.
5. Generic gaiety, conviviality, cheerfulness
Hall and Sharples, 2008
Seville Spring Festival
FESTIVALS. Potential benefits:
1- Generation of greater economic benefits for local people and enhancement
of the
wellbeing of host communities;
2- Improvement in the working conditions of the festival environment and
initiatives to generate further employment;
3- Inclusion of local people in decision making with respect to festival
development;
4- Support for diversity and contribution to conservation of natural and cultural
heritage;
5- Creation of enjoyable experiences by enabling visitors to connect
meaningfully with residents;
6- Provision of access for physically challenged people
7- Being culturally sensitive, encouraging respect between event-goers and
hosts, building local pride and confidence.
MUSEUMS
A museum can be an instrument to achieved a specific aim, in a
positive and in a negative sense. Museums were and are still abused
to glorify a nation’s past or its leader’s heroism. But they can also be
in the service of noble ideas, such as mutual understanding, peace or
cultural diversity.
Martin R. Scharer, 2003
-Integrated museum
-Ecomuseum
-Neighborhood museum
-
Museum and social work:
-Museums ,
-Museums,
society
-Museums ,
-Museums ,
society
-Museums ,
society
-Museums ,
health, and society
competence, and
identity, and society
transcendence, and
companions, and
intimacy, and society
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Visitor diversity in the inclusive museum
The politics of heritage: national,
regional, ethnic, diasporic and first
nation identities
Multilingualism: accessibility for small
languages and cultures
Gender and sexual orientation in the
museum
Disability access in the museum
Competing cultures: high, folk, popular,
techno-scientific
Pedagogy as presentation or dialogue:
the relation with the visitors
Hurricanes,
environmental
damage, sea level
rise and risk to
island states (SIDS)
Poverty and racial discrimination
Political confrontation; legal and illegal migration; human and drug traffic
Hernando de Soto
Juego de cañas. XVI c. (game of canes)
Pilgrimage and festival of the Virgin
Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre.
Cuba, XVII c.
African slaves. Traffic and
explotation
African slave festival. Cuba, XIX c.
Caribbean museums
Island
Cayman Island
Museums
4
Turk and Caicos
Bahamas
Antigua and
Barbuda
Barbados
Dominica
Saint Lucia
1
6
Saint Vincent
and the
Grenadines
Trinidad and
Tobago
Saint Kitts and
Nevis
Curacao
Martinique
Cuba
Puerto Rico
Dominican
Republic
Jamaica
Haiti
3
4
1
9
2
6
6
17
42
328
84
20
18
8
National Museum. Saint
Kitts
National Museum. Grenada
Museum of Nevis History
• Coleccionde west indies
Museo del Hombre
Dominicano
Panteon Nacional.Haiti
Museo del Indio. Puerto Rico
Curacao. The Kura Hulanda and Tula
Museums
Museo de la Ruta del
Esclavo. Cuba (2015)
Museum. Financing sources
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Locals
55%
Foreigners 45%
Museums in Cuba
Cuba. Municipal
museums
Caribbean festivals
Carnaval. Dominican Republic
Voodoo Festival. Haiti
Carnaval. Santiago de Cuba
Regional cultural festivals. Cuba
1. Romerías de Mayo ……………………………………………………………..festival of po etry,
theater, traditional dances, etc..
2. 2. Congreso Cultura y Desarrollo
3. Jornada Cucalambeana y Encuentro
4. Festival Iberoamericano de la Décima
5.Festival del Caribe
6. Fiesta de los Orígenes
7. Fiesta de la cubanía
8. Fiesta de la Cultura Iberoamericana
9. Feria Nacional de Arte Popular
10. Fiesta a la Guantanamera
Other festivals:
1.Fiestas patronales
2.Carnavales
3.Parrandas
4.Charangas
Polemic celebrations
Día de la raza (Day of the Race). Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico Discovery Day
Happy Puerto Rico Discovery Day. The beginning of the end !!
Carnaval Cimarrón (maroon) Barriga Verde, San Juan de la Maguana, República
Dominicana
P. Rico
Fisherman's Birthday (St. Peter's Birthday).
Grenada
Annual Hurricane Supplication
Mass at the Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Chapel, St. Croix
Dominican Republic
Carnaval
Secretaria de Cultura (RD) 2011
Puerto Rico (Taino Nation Festival)
Trinidad Carnival
WIPO/CARICOM, 2006
Conclusions
-Given the extensiveness of the region, differences in language and the dispersion of information, it becomes problematic to obtain data that allows
establishing a detailed and profound vision on the characteristics of museums and festivals in the varying Antillean islands.
-Museums and festivals both encourage and promote dialogue, social understanding and promote inclusiveness of the public in the Caribbean.
Both, museums and festivals, support cultural understanding based on their particular characteristics, and therefore can make an important
contribution in solving the multiple problems the region faces. This opportunity should encourage us to further develop and enhance professional
skills of the personnel involved in these environments. It should encourage government action and financial support to enable a sustainable
operation of the projects.
-Festivals are particularly important to foster understanding and social dialogue between different groups. Many festivals have a long continuous
history of uniting people of different ethnic origin, as well as political and social positions.
-It is essential for festivals, museums and other institutions to raise awareness of the history of slavery, its meanings and its impact today. It is
important to assess this process in its connection with racial discrimination and social relegation of black and other ethnic groups. The legacy of
slavery is also a common heritage. It is a story of genocide and pain but also struggle for life and hope. It is one of the basis of our present.
-It is important to include in festivals and museums themes that represent other ethnic groups like the Indigenous-American, Hindu, the Jewish
community and the Chinese.
-It would be useful to develop the capacity of museums and festivals as a resource to promote social understanding, and to increase the cultural
exchange between regions on their particular experience, given that many communities have a common cultural base. It is also important to
incorporate the international experience in this matter, particularly from others poor countries.
-Museums and festivals should promote a narrative that goes beyond the historical aspects of instructing and public education. They should have
an interest to encourage the discussion of problems such as drug abuse, poverty, racial discrimination, domestic violence, and environmental risk.
-For this kind of regional cultural aspects, there should be more economic support from local and international institutions, to support the projects
that highlight social and community profiles, the social work performed by the museums, and their role as an inclusive space.
-In the case of festivals, particularly big carnivals, considering their strong media presence, and hence large public impact, we should insist in
promoting a discourse of no violence, tolerance, social integration and understanding.