«Breaking» the silence on the history of slavery (+photos).
At the international level, the project has played a key role in «breaking» the silence around the history of slavery and placing this tragedy in universal memory.
Delegates and guests of the International Conference New Narratives: Memory, Resistance and Vindication, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Enslaved People’s Route, concluded its sessions this Friday in Matanzas.
In the morning the participants of the event toured areas of the Museum to the Rebel Slave, in the town of Triunvirato, while in the spaces of the Castle of San Severino, in the afternoon, they enjoyed a sample of the African cultural expressions that contributed in a special way to the formation of the matanceridad.
During the session, Isabel Hernández Campos, director of the San Severino Castle, officially inaugurated an interactive room that will allow a deeper approach, from new technologies, to the legacy of the inhabitants of that continent in Cuba.
In the debate that ensued, it was analyzed how the resistance, freedom and wealth converted into patrimony that people brought from Africa through the triangular transatlantic trade, contributed to the formation of Cuban nationality.
The thirtieth anniversary of UNESCO’s Roads of Enslaved People program was held in Havana and Matanzas from August 21st to 23rd, with the participation of figures of the stature of Nigerian Nobel Laureate in Literature, Wole Soyinka.
This program has enabled the acquisition of knowledge on the African contribution to culture, the development of high-level scientific networks and the support of initiatives to commemorate slavery, its abolition and the resistance it generated.
At the international level, the project has played a fundamental role in «breaking» the silence surrounding the history of slavery and placing this tragedy in the universal memory.
Delegates to the Conference, in their concluding remarks, confirmed the commitment to continue cooperation for the restoration of human memory and dignity through new inspirational narratives and transformative pedagogies.
The activity, which took place in the historic setting of the Castle of San Severino, National Monument and headquarters of the Museum of the Route of the Enslaved People, was attended by Anne Lemaistre, director of the Regional Offices of Culture and Multinational for Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti of Unesco; the Senegalese Doudou Diène, vice president of the Scientific Committee of the Unesco project «The Routes of the Enslaved People: Resistance, Freedom and Heritage»; Cuban Minister of Culture Alpidio Alonso; and Cuban writer, ethnologist and researcher Miguel Barnet.
Written by Gabriel Torres.
