by Nigel A. Campbell
There was a thing that happened in Costa Rica in 2012. Executive decree No. 37418-C, published in the official government newspaper La Gaceta de Costa RICA gave special recognition to Calypso as part of Costa Rica’s cultural and historical identity, and declares "the musical genre called "Calypso Limonense" as an outstanding expression of the intangible Afro-descendant cultural heritage in Costa Rica."
Jamaica in 2018 got UNESCO to designate reggae music as an "intangible cultural heritage of humanity." We still playing catch up with calypso, more so with steelpan after nearly a decade. After nearly 60 years of Independence, 2020 was the first time a draft cultural policy was ever laid in Parliament. You know what, let me rephrase this for accuracy: T&T has NEVER had a cultural policy in all of its years of Independence!
I want to see the official document from which people repeating that "pan is the national instrument." A writer to a newspaper wrote, “...apart from the steel pan being declared the national (musical) instrument by the Prime Minister (the late Patrick Manning) in his 1992 Independence Day address to the nation, we could not locate any Hansard records of it being established by an Act of Parliament.”
You want legislation? Manning felt that "from his lips to God's ears" was enough. I want a change in attitude from Cabinet towards our cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries. This is a serious thing.
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http://www.pgrweb.go.cr/scij/Busqueda/Normativa/Normas/nrm_texto_completo.aspx?
| Declares the musical genre called "Calypso Limonense" as an outstanding expression of the intangible Afro-descendant cultural heritage in Costa Rica | |
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THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC AND THE MINISTER OF CULTURE AND YOUTH Based on articles 89 and 140, sections 3) and 18) of the Political Constitution and 25.1 of the General Law of Public Administration, and on Law No. 8560, of November 16, 2006, published in La Gaceta No. 237 of December 11, 2006 (Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage). Considering: I.- That calypso music, originally from the island of Trinidad, was brought by Jamaican immigrants to Costa Rica at the end of the 19th century and took root, with its own characteristics, in the popular sectors of that Afro-descendant population. II.-That the Limonense calypso is considered by the black population of the province of Limón, as an authentic musical expression of their ethnic group and is an essential part of their cultural identity. III.-That, while the current profile of the Limonense calypso presents specific characteristics in musical interpretation, the construction of its lyrics, its themes and contents, its melodic features and turns and its vocal and instrumental performance, it should be considered as a musical expression typical of Costa Rica, emerged from historical and unique cultural processes that have occurred in the province of Limón. IV.-That Limonense calypso strengthens the continuity and validity of the language, Creole English, a fundamental element of Afro-Colombian cultural identity, which reinforces the bonds of social cohesion of this human group. V.-That the interpreters of this genre, called calypsonians, through their songs, have historically fulfilled the role of chroniclers, social critics and transmitters of oral tradition. VI.-That the composition and in some cases the improvisation of the songs are an example of the artistic creativity of the interpreters of the Limonense calypso. VII.-That this musical manifestation is evidence of the multicultural richness that characterizes the Costa Rican Caribbean region. Therefore, THEY DECREE: Article 1-Declare the musical genre called "Calypso Limonense" as an outstanding expression of the intangible Afro-descendant cultural heritage of Costa Rica. |
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Replies
In 2011 during our visit to Austria to perform at HM The Queen birthday party at the British Embassy During his address to the guest the Ambassador informed them that the steel pan is now part of British culture . He then joined us with his Trumpet when we played God save the Queen.