Santiago de Cuba, Oct. 6 (RHC)-- Cubans will celebrate October 20th --National Culture Day—with a broad, mostly virtual program of national, regional and community activities. In Santiago de Cuba, the campaign leading up to Oct. 20th includes colloquiums, panel discussions, exchanges on cultural community work, homage-paying ceremonies to personalities and entities.
Raulicer García, provincial cultural director, told a press conference Tuesday that commemorative activities will begin on October 10th with a tribute to Cuban martyr Carlos Manuel de Céspedes at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery and a wreath-laying ceremony at the park bearing his name in the City of Santiago de Cuba, both with reduced number of participants in compliance with measures in place to stop the spread of Covid-19.
There will be a panel discussion of racial issues in Cuba after 1959 at the provincial headquarters of the National Association of Writers and Artists (UNEAC), and another panel dedicated to poet and essayist, the late Marino Wilson at the Amado Ramón Library.
Other activities include meetings with founders, professors and students of the José María Heredia Arts School, which is this year celebrating 35 years of fruitful work training artists in the most diverse disciplines: music, dance, actors and actresses. Over the past several months, the Center was turned into a healthcare facility to treat Covid-19 patients and their contacts.
Also as part of celebrations on Cuban Culture Day, a colloquium will be held, dedicated to major general of Cuba’s mambi army Antonio Maceo. University students and artists, members of the National Association of Writers and Artists and of the Hermanos Saiz Association will analyze the validity of his thinking in today’s Cuba.
Cuban musician Juan Guillermo (JG), will release his latest album entitled “Llevo la música en el alma”, produced at Estudios Siboney, and which include both, well-known and little-known tunes written by his father –Revolution Commander Juan Almeida Bosque, who was also a prolific songwriter.
On October 20th, there will be a cultural gala at Teatro Heredia, which will be broadcast by audiovisual producer Lía Videos on Streaming Cuba and a network of more than 140 Facebook pages.
Cuban Culture Day celebrates the first time that the Bayamo Anthem –later turned into the Cuban National Anthem-- was sung in Cuba on October 20th, 1868.