Monte Plata celebrates 10th Exhibition of Cimarron

Monte Plata celebrates 10^th Exhibition of Cimarron Culture
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 10/25/2011

With the participation of more than 30 communities in the province of Monte Plata, this Thursday, October 27 the 10th Exhibition of Cimarron Culture will be launched with an extensive program of activities that includes workshops, exhibitions and all the culture of this region known as the Sabana del Espíritu Santo.

This event is organized by the Dominican Federation of Arts and Culture and a wide range of local institutions including the House of Culture and the provincial Arts and Culture Association, as well as the municipalities of Monte Plata, Boyá, Don Juan and Sabana Grande de Boyá.

This event is organized by the Dominican Federation of Arts and Culture and a wide range of local institutions including the House of Culture and the provincial Arts and Culture Association, as well as the municipalities of Monte Plata, Boyá, Don Juan and Sabana Grande de Boyá.

Professor Vicente Hernández reported that everything was going well and reflected on the many traditional groups that will be present at this event. “We are going to have some 40 traditional groups from Boyá, Chirino, Bayaguana, Don Juan, Cacique, Sabana Grande de Boyá, Yamasá, among other communities that will be at the event with all their culture and traditions,” said Hernández.

Also participating will be the San Juan Bautista Confraternity of Venezuela, declared Cultural Heritage of the state of Carabobo. Belonging to the Community of Naguanagua in Valencia, this traditional group is celebrating in its space the fiestas in honor of San Juan Bautista and organizing an annual meeting with all the Afro-Venezuelan confraternities known as the Meeting of the San Juanes.

This will be a great opportunity in the Caribbean to appreciate that we are all one, a single tradition, the same ancestral language. They are coming with their drums, their flags, their San Juan and all the traditions of Afro-Venezuelan culture.

Dedication of the 10^th Exhibition:

This year the event will be dedicated to the Municipality of Bayaguana, a place with deep cultural traditions where the festival of Santo Cristo de Bayaguana is celebrated every year.

Also during this celebration of culture, recognition will be made of four popular musicians who have dedicated their lives to making instruments, playing in palos and singing popular songs. The musicians who will be recognized are Anicasio Laureano, Juan Evangelista Carrera, Felipe Aybar and José Torres, each one with more than 70 years of playing music during the traditional festivals of their communities.

Special activities of the event

“National Meeting of Confraternities”

October 26 | Auditorium of the Eastern Technological Institute Library (ITECO) –Cotuí | 3:00 pm

Meeting-workshop on the contributions of the confraternities to national identity, with the participation of the confraternities Fe y Alegría del Espíritu Santo of Cotuí, the Brotherhood of the Spirit Santo de Jima, the Confraternity of San Juan Bautista of Venezuela, and others.

Panelists:

Dagoberto Tejeda, coordinator of the event’s academic program.

Lic. José Hernández, professor from ITECO.

Edis Sánchez

Juan Francisco Vásquez

Moderator: Felipe Orozco, director of culture for the University.

Meeting Coordinator: Reyes Moore, director of folklore for the Federation.

The activity is supported by the University of ITECO and its rector Dr. Esclarecida Núnez.

“II Cimarron Carnival “

October 28 | 2:00 pm | Monte Plata

The floats for Guerra, El Puerto, Santo Domingo, San Juan de la Maguana, Montecristi, Elías Piñas, Cabral, Hato Mayor, and Cotuí will make their way to Monte Plata.

Masks of devils, bulls and civilians, hobgoblins, plantain-wearers, and other manifestations will be at the carnival, which speaks to the influence that a heritage denied and made invisible for many years has had on the national culture and this is the essence of this proposal of the Dominican Federation of Arts and Culture.

“This is a carnival for disseminating the African roots of the Dominican carnival, its richness, spirituality and content,” said Julio Encarnación, the coordinator of this proposal.

“This is a carnival for disseminating the African roots of the Dominican carnival, its richness, spirituality and content,” said Julio Encarnación, the coordinator of this proposal.

“The Cimarron Route. Cultural and ecotourism route”

October 29 | | 7:00 am | Departure point: front courtyard of the National Theatre

The Cimarrona Route that will tour the most important places of cultural, touristic and historic interest in Monte Plata province, as a means of promoting domestic tourism and familiarizing people with the essential elements of Dominican cultural identity.

The Route will visit Plaza Cacique, the Iglesia de Boyá that was the last outpost of the indigenous people in the country, and the province’s special attractions.

It will end up in Bayaguana with a visit to the church of Santo Cristo where there will be an activity with the traditional groups of the area. The participants will return to Santo Domingo in the afternoon.

“This is a proposal that is counting on the people knowing the treasures, environmental as well as historic-cultural in nature of the Sabana del Espíritu Santo area, rich in traditions and unique manifestations that are only found in this region,” Pedro Julio Quezada pointed out.

“Mass for the Ancestors”

October 29 | 10:00 am | Iglesia de Boyá

An activity coordinated with the Municipal Council of Boyá and local traditional groups. It will be a tribute and recognition to both the sacrifices and offerings that the original inhabitants of the island had to make and those that were brought in later, to give us what we have today that we are so proud of, our ‘Dominicanness’, our identity.

“This is a sublime feeling for what we have inherited and a deep appreciation of life,” according to the organizers of the mass.

This tenth version of the Sample of Cimarron Culture is backed by the Cultural Center of Spain, ITECO, Induspalma Dominicana, the Municipality of Monte Plata, the Municipality of Boyá, the Municipality of Don Juan, the Senate Office of Monte Plata, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Sports, the Dominican Olympic Committee, the Dominican Network of Local Cultures and others.