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ORDINARY SESSION OF
PARLIAMENT
In Cuba sovereignty and
culture are inextricably bound together
•
President Fidel Castro speaks in
the debate on the Ministry of Culture report
• Although fewer books are being
printed there are many more titles •
Tribute to sculptor and painter
Delarra
BY
MIREYA CASTAÑEDA —Granma
International staff writer—
“EDUCATION
and culture are passionate issues,” affirmed
President Fidel Castro, speaking during the
discussion of the Ministry of Culture report,
presented by its head, Abel Prieto at the 1st
Ordinary Session of the 6th Legislature of the
National Assembly.
“Both are
intimately connected,” he commented, “because
without the national education system set in motion
by the Revolution in 1959 arts education would not
have been developed.”
The
president’s observations began with a lively and
even humorous dialogue with Abel Prieto on equipment
for the island’s 46 musical bands, which have a long
tradition in Cuba.
That simple
detail led to an intensive reflection by the head of
state on his own education. “We were illiterate,
even though we had been to school, “ he explained,
“because we did not have classes in painting or art
or music or anything; moreover, I never attended,”
he commented, “because the classes were very
boring.”
He made a
comparison with the classes that Cuban children and
young people receive today, many of them via
television, which he affirmed left him pleasantly
shocked. “There is a great difference,” he pointed
out, “and for that reason we are still learning
now.”
In terms of
the document under discussion, the president stated
that it contained many astounding facts, including
the participation of more than 600,000 children in
the Reading Martí Competition, and 4,000
participating in the National Ballet of Cuba’s
Vocational Workshop – in the capital alone – while
40,000 families had applied for their children’s
matriculation in the workshop.
Referring to
certain educational and cultural programs underway,
Fidel noted: “What we have done now is to revive
some of the ideas of the early days of the
Revolution.” As an example he quoted the
re-instigation of arts instructors, one of the first
actions taken by the Revolution to bring art to the
people (there are currently 15 training colleges
with more than 4,000 students and the first
graduation is in 2004).
The Cuban
leader developed various ideas; among them the fact
that everyone can enjoy dance, drama, reading and
writing; that talent is abundant but has to be found
and developed; and that there cannot be a servile
compliance to ones vocation.
“Education
and culture are passionate issues,” he stressed,
“and we aspire to our people possessing a integrated
general culture, including the arts and also
politics, philosophy, world economy and even
scientific currents.
“Today we
are talking of an arts culture, and artists are
blessed by the gods because the characteristics of
artistic activity are special ones, and their names
will endure in history, whereas political ones will
be forgotten,” Fidel commented.
The
president also praised the conduct of Cuban
intellectuals and their unconditional support for
the educational, cultural and social programs
initiated three years ago.
Great
figures in Cuban culture, arts, literature, cinema
and drama attended the parliamentary session as
special guests, and they had already received an
ovation from the 546 deputies (89.8% of the total)
when Abel Prieto introduced them before presenting
the report.
CULTURE IS PART
OF SOCIETY
Before
commenting on his own report, the culture minister
asked for a short 20-minute documentary to be
screened presenting cultural work recently developed
in all the spheres (and making the most appropriate
use of the song “Te convido a creerme cuando digo
futuro” (I invite you to believe me when I say
future), by singer-songwriter and Silvio Rodríguez).
The central
idea that Abel Prieto presented was that the
document does not just reflect the labors of an
institution, as culture is part of all society and
has a particular social dimension, a thinking that
is basic to advancing Fidel’s great plan “to convert
us into a genuinely cultured people,” and to that
end an “unprecedented educational and cultural
revolution is underway.”
The minister
spoke of the most relevant aspects of what he
described as “a gradual recuperation” in various
cultural spheres: literature; municipal cultural
institutions including the Casas of Culture (“it is
a priority to revitalize culture in the community
and I can confirm that that is beginning to show
positive signs”) in music, the visual arts, cinema
(“this is the only one that is falling off in terms
of public and installations, through lack of
funding”), the cultural heritage and arts teaching.
One sign of
that recovery, he noted, “is public attendance,
mounting up to the thousands; for example, more than
60,000 at the performances of the recently concluded
Havana Theater Festival; in the summer more than
seven million people attended the close to 12,000
musical events, including dance music; and the Book
Fair, now extended to 30 cities, is a whole popular
fiesta.”
In the
context of books, he noted that although the six
million-plus published in 2002 is a far cry from the
17 million-plus in 1989, it was worth noting that
last year 876 titles came out, as opposed to 630 in
’89. “But moreover, in terms of reading, there is
more quality, because readers are better educated.
For example, two editions of James Joyce’s
Ulysses have disappeared, and that of Adriano
by Margueritte Yourcenar.”
Abel Prieto
emphasized how Cuban culture has been able to stand
up to the powerful U.S. cultural machine, which is
prejudicial to national identity and represents a
cultural invasion with its messages and fetishes,
and has done so “without putting us in a capsule,”
but by combating in the field of ideas.
That is why
we are waging a battle for an integral general
culture, so that nobody can manipulate us and
artistic culture is an indispensable component of
identity, quality of life, because it makes people
grow,” the culture minister affirmed.
He recalled
that President Fidel Castro defined culture as “the
shield and sword of the nation:” a shield, for its
decisive role in the defense of identity in the face
of the corrosive avalanche of hegemonic
globalization, and a sword for its exceptional
capacity for universal influence.
Abel Prieto
added that in today’s world culture is suffering
from the consequences of neoliberalism. The arts
circuits are concentrated in the hands of the
transnationals and hierarchies are defined by the
market; books are merchandise and publicity is at
the service of mediocrity.
“In Cuba we
have founded a model of resistance and development
with our cultural programs, which are a point of
reference for honest intellectuals in the world –
and that isn’t something we’ve said about ourselves.
That was a quote from the Mexican intellectual Pablo
González Casanova: ‘The world will find its path to
peace, education and life, and that path will go
through Cuba.’”
ABSURD AND
RIDICULOUS BLOCKADE
After
deputies spoke in the morning and afternoon
sessions, many focusing their speeches on the
importance of community culture, Deputy José Antonio
Díaz, president of the Science, Education, Culture
and Environment Commission, read out the statement
on the culture report, which reiterates that since
La Demajagua bell rang out in 1868, “sovereignty and
culture have been inextricably bound together.”
The text
also expresses how “the universal recognition
attained by Cuban figures and institutions has
effectively contributed to the solid defense of our
nationality and independence. The absurd and senile
blockade has been unable to halt or temper the Cuban
Revolution’s cultural message and that, to a great
extent, is due to the prestige and clear position of
our artistic and literary vanguard.”
The National
Assembly approved the Ministry of Culture report and
also ratified its 10 permanent parliamentary working
commissions and the creation of 72 parliamentary
groups of solidarity with an equal number of
countries (the other two agenda items).
Very
appropriately, the parliamentary session had
commenced with a tribute to recently deceased
sculptor José Delarra, the nom de plume of Deputy
José Ramón de Lázaro Bencomo. “His work will remain
forever throughout our country, as well as his
example as an artist and creator always committed to
the motherland,” affirmed Ricardo Alarcón, president
of the National Assembly.
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