SANTIAGO DE CUBA.— The Caribbean not only suggests drumming joined by chants and dances, but also in the company of verse, ballads, theater performances, and images of the most varied type and relevance.
The artistic agenda for the 36th Festival of Fire in this eastern Cuban city, July 3-9, is organized in line with this concept. There is no other event like this that gives the region's traditions and folk knowledge the respectful attention they deserve. No other event like this gives the spiritualities that sustain Caribbean identity the appreciation or analysis they deserve, including those with affinities in Brazil and the United States.
An exposition and day of discussion on funerary traditions in Jamaica, Brazil and Cuba serve as an impressive demonstration of the broad range of points of view on popular religiosity in the Caribbean Basin. While in the Casa del Caribe, for 12 hours everyday, groups of traditional cultural carriers are featured, and in other city institutions expositions, concerts and performing arts events can be attended.
Outstanding among the latter is the workshop hosted by the Macubá theater studio, directed by Fátima Patterson, which on this occasion includes the participation of Vivian Martínez Tabares, director of the Casa de las Americas theater department, and the respected dramaturge Gerardo Fulleda León.
In terms of visual arts, the high note is the inauguration of an exposition by sculpture Esterio Segura, in the Caguayo Foundation's René Valdés gallery. Once again the artist has crafted visual metaphors of the doubts and apprehensions that assault human beings, and the fine line between myth and reality.
Although this Festival of Fire features Ecuador as the guest country of honor, other nations will also play a leading role. Such is the case with the Dominican Republic, celebrating its 25 years of uninterrupted participation in the Santiago event with the inauguration of its Casa de las Tradiciones, in the El Tivolí neighborhood, a venue where the country's music is featured.
