vergrössern

vergrössern

vergrössern

Traditional folk culture makes us one, identifies us, makes us equal, and constitutes an impulse of internal solidarity that has developed over centuries, together with the constitution of a common memory.

 There is no higher value in cultural terms than human solidarity; the capacity of men and women to sacrifice themselves for other similar ones constitutes, in my view, the supreme cultural value that presides over all expressions of art, all expressions of thought, every expression of philosophy, every expression of the multiple religions that have existed and that, in one way or another, in all likelihood, will continue to exist.  There is no official subject of traditional popular culture.

 Traditional popular culture makes and remakes itself by virtue of the anonymous impulses of men and women, and also of the peoples.  In strict eidetic terms, this constitutes a miracle and, at the same time, a mystery.  Let us salute that miracle and let us pray that this mystery will never be discovered.  To discuss all these issues, we have met researchers and scholars on different occasions.  Let us continue doing it with all respect and freedom, which are determining factors of Cuban history and culture.

 The individual conscience, the collective conscience and the national conscience are successive levels of the traditional Cuban popular culture, which can reach the stage of a universal conscience, consonant with Marti’s affirmation that “homeland is humanity.”