CubaPLUS Magazine

Cuba's Deputy Minister of Culture, Lizette Martínez, met with Barbadian Senator Shantal Munro-Knight, expressing her gratitude for the invitation extended to a group of Cuban artists to the Carifesta festival held in Barbados.

Munro-Knight, who also serves as Minister in the Prime Minister's Office with responsibility for Sustainable Development and Culture of Barbados, met with the high-ranking Cuban official to discuss various initiatives between the two countries in the area of cultural cooperation, according to the Cuban Ministry of Culture (Mincult).

The traditional event, taking place from August 22nd to 31st under the theme "Caribbean Roots, Global Excellence," saw the two leaders discuss topics for exchange, such as artistic education in various disciplines, and other points of common interest for both nations.

The Cuban Deputy Minister of Culture acknowledged the quality of the Barbadian event's program and organization. She noted that the Cuban delegation included musicians, dancers specializing in folkloric and contemporary dance, visual artists, and Cuban designers.

The Gordon Square Freedom Park hosted the Symposium: "Speaking of Cuba and Fidel! The Enigma of Cuba as a Point of Reference for Caribbean Civilization," an initiative of Barbados' Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), David Comissiong.

During this meeting, National Literature Prize-winning poet Nancy Morejón; filmmaker Gloria Rolando; the director of the National Museum of Fine Arts, Jorge Fernández; Casa de las Américas specialist Amanda Sánchez; and the Deputy Minister highlighted the figure of Fidel Castro and his legacy in the Caribbean region.

The event also included theoretical forums, such as the panel "Unlocking Caribbean Screens with Cinema," while the Barbadian public welcomed the Cuban groups Rumba All Star and Sur Caribe.

The Cuban Embassy in Barbados joined the Carifesta celebration with the exhibition "Fidel in the Caribbean, Images of a Revolutionary Presence," in which important figures from Barbadian art and politics participated alongside the Cuban delegation.

Munro-Knight reaffirmed her commitment to work together to establish collaboration in the specialties of dance, theater, and in other modalities suggested by the Cuban Deputy Minister, such as music and the cultural industries.

The Cuban side extended an invitation to the Barbadian Minister to visit the island and also suggested the participation of a Barbadian cultural delegation in the Festival of the Caribbean, an event held in July in Santiago de Cuba to promote and celebrate the traditional popular culture of the Caribbean through artistic and academic expressions.

Cuban musicians and dancers will offer various workshops that will enrich the Carifesta festival program, as announced by Mincult itself in the context of the Cuban delegation's visit to the event on the Caribbean island.

(Taken from Prensa Latina)