PAN IN CUBA: Members of La Casa del Caribe incorporate the steelpan in Cuba’s annual Fiesta del Fuego (Fire Festival).
LAUREL V WILLIAMS
MANY attempts were made over the decades at unifying various Caribbean territories over the years by use of everything from cricket to codified economic agreements. But for many observers, the steelpan may be that unifying force. Its circular shape and different melodious harmonies seem to embody the various cultures which span the Caribbean Sea.
Though the instrument may be indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago, one Caribbean territory - Cuba - has not only embraced the steel pan it has made it an integral part of its annual Fiesta del Fuego (Fire Festival) celebrations hosted by La Casa del Caribe (Caribbean House).
But there is a catch. Cuba does not have enough pans, thus limiting its infectious music to a few members of a band in a community called El Cobre in Santiago de Cuba. They have a growing passion for the pan and equal difficulty in obtaining new instruments.
The group’s coordinator for TT, anthropologist John Sorrillo is hoping any citizen or organisation interested in promoting the culture would donate a steelpan. Saying that foreign pan lovers are hungry for the instrument, Sorrillo is hoping that locals ‘feed’ this hunger by giving from the heart.
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