First Dominican Culture Week Ends in Orlando

First Dominican Culture Week Ends in Orlando
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 9/16/2011

The Ministry of Culture, through the Provincial Cultural Office of Romana, the BoMana Foundation and the Dominican College of Painters of La Romana, coordinated the participation of national artists at the First Dominican Culture Week in Orlando, Florida.

There were conferences, workshops, photo exhibitions, book presentations, film screenings, artistic shows, handcrafts and paintings, all of which was dedicated to the expression of Dominican identity.

There were conferences, workshops, photo exhibitions, book presentations, film screenings, artistic shows, handcrafts and paintings, all of which was dedicated to the expression of Dominican identity.

The main conferences were: “Evolution in Dominican Painting,” with  Norberto Uribe; “Synopsis of Painting in the Province of La Romana,” with Teódulo Silfa Cassó; “The Roots of Caribbean Music ” and “The Music of the Dominican Carnival,” with Jessica Hajek; “The Dominican Urban Landscape,” with Vanessa Vélez and “Kettledrums and Dominican Identity,” with Jorge Guigni.

The gathering also hosted a selection of the best Dominican films, such as documentaries produced by the Dominican Republic Foundation, Memory of the Nation: “Valle Nuevo: Madre de las Aguas,” “El Santuario del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús de Moca,” “Ingenio Diego Caballero,” “Salomé: Desvelos de la Poesía,” La Virgen donde Nace el Sol,, “El Santo de la Cueva: San Francisco de Asís”, “La Santísima Cruz”, “Los Toros”, “Ofrenda del Cristo de Bayaguana”, “Los Látigos del Sol”, “La Fiesta de Hilda”, “El San Antonio Negro de los Guillén”; “San Miguel, el Padrino de Belié Belcán.”

Documentaries screened during the week included: “Trujillo: El Poder del Jefe” The Trilogy; “Abril, La Trinchera del Honor”, “Orgullo de mi Tierra: Barahona y Pedernales”, “Orgullo de mi Tierra: Samaná” and the documentary made by the Altos de Chavón Regional Archeology Museum  as well as the promotional documentary “Los Toros del Este.”

First Dominican Culture Week in Orlando was held thanks to the joint efforts of artists and Dominican residents of this area of Florida as well as the DR who are involved and interested in culture; the Public Library of Orlando; coordinators Víctor Toribio, president of Casa Dominicana of Culture in Orlando and its volunteer groups; Norberto Uribe and Teódulo Silfa Cassó, representatives of the Dominican College of Painters of La Romana, and Luisa María Ortiz Guzmán, Provincial Director of the La Romana Ministry of Culture and President of the BoMana Foundation, Inc.

The event took place between August 24-28 at the Public Library of Orlando, Florida. Also present was City Commissioner Tony Ortiz and Senators from the Dominican Republic, among other personalities.


One of the pieces on display at Dominican Culture Week in Orlando

Conference “The Urban Dominican Landscape” given by Vanesa Vélez

Jorge Guigni giving a creative workshop on Dominican Carnival masks