Haiti is participating for the first time at the “Festival de Culturas del Caribe” [Festival of Cultures of the Caribbean], alongside a dozen countries of the region, which is presently being held from November 8 to 19 in Chetumal, Mexico. Haiti will be represented in particular by the mizic rasin [roots] group Ram, the painter Carl Craig, and Dr. Glodel Mezilas, Second Secretary at the Embassy of Haiti in Mexico, who will deliver a lecture on the theme “The Caribbean still exists : between alienation and utopian discourse.”

The Museum of Mayan Culture [Museo de la Cultura Maya] is hosting art exhibitions by Carl Craig (Haiti), Gabriela Batista (Panama), José Omar Torres (Cuba), and Beatriz Sánchez (México); and a display of Panamanian costumes. At the Paseo del Arte, there is also a group exhibition entitled “Tradiciones vivas: cultura maya y el Caribe” [Living Cultures: Mayan Culture and the Caribbean].

Music and dance performances will include individual performers and groups such as Alterlatinos, Estrellas Vallenatas, the Ballet Quintana Roo Secretariat of Culture, Panamá Folklore, Míster Saik, Musas y guitarras, Byron Lee, Dayron, Gbran y Malak, Torres 311, Dance for you, Ku yóok’ot in kaajal, Ballet Folclórico de la Universidad de la Riviera Maya, Hierba santa, Dinamita Show, Niños semillas de cantores, Impacto colombiano, Corazón latino, Operación Kangrejo, Ram, Garífuna Afrounah, Alison Hinds, Queen Omega,  Yaajal Kaab, Orquesta Campeche, Polok Tolok, Lucio y su nueva generación, Denisse de Kalafe, Habana Compás Dance, Pedro Lama y su grupo, and the National Dance Company of Belize. Compañía Nacional de Danza de Belice redondean esta sección artística.

There will also be two books launched: Luis Barjau’s Náufragos españoles en tierra maya [Spanish Shipwrecks on Mayan Land] and El patrimonio fortificado. Cádiz y el Caribe: una relación trasatlántica [Fortified Legacy: Cadiz and the Caribbean: a Trans-Atlantic Relationship] by Carlos Flores Marini and Eduardo Lizalde.

Several theatrical pieces will round out the festival.

For more information (in Spanish), see http://contrastenoticias.com/2012/11/06/el-jueves-ocho-inicia-el-festival-de-cultura-del-caribe-en-chetumal-con-conferencias-exposiciones-y-jornadas-escenicas/ and http://www.diariorespuesta.com.mx/092012/index.php?option=com_content&id=47933:inicia-festival-de-cultura-del-caribe&Itemid=270

Image: José Omar Torres “Isla” from http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2011/06/24/la-pintura-cubana-contemporanea-viajara-a-portugal/