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Image / Dancers walking to the Carnival, Barranquilla, Colombia, 1977

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Title
Dancers walking to the Carnival, Barranquilla, Colombia, 1977
Creator
Cross, Richard, 1950-1983
Date Created and/or Issued
1977-02
Publication Information
California State University, Northridge
Contributing Institution
California State University, Northridge
Collection
Richard Cross Photographs (Bradley Center)
Rights Information
Use of images from the collections of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center is strictly prohibited by law without prior written consent from the copyright holders. The responsibility for the use of these materials rests exclusively with the user.
The Bradley Center may assist in obtaining copyright/licensing permission to use images from the Richard Cross collection. http://www.csun.edu/bradley-center/contact
Description
A large group of young men in costume walk side by side in a line on an unpaved road while on their way to Carnival de Barranquilla celebrations. The Carnival is celebrated in Colombia's Caribbean city of Barranquilla, the capital of Atlántico Department. Standing around them are many children and young men. In the background there are several houses and utility poles. The large group of young men in costume wear a cape and a large and flowered turban with a long fabric tail decorated with lace. They also hold a wooden machete, which they will use during their performance. Though their group of membership is unknown, their costume is evidence that they belong to one of the many "Congo" groups, comparsas (dance troupes)which perform the celebrated "Danza del Congo" (Congo Dance), a dance inspired by African warrior traditions. Barranquilla was founded as a city and port in 1627 by the Spanish crown, and it is located on the western side of the Magdalena River in Atlántico Department along the Caribbean Sea coast. Since the 1930s, Barranquilla has served as the entry point for the thousands of immigrants who over time were added to the already existing Colombian human diversity, making Barranquilla in the most important port in Colombia and its most important economic center, having been designated in 1993 as a special industrial and port center. Barranquilla hosts the Carnival de Barranquilla, Colombia’s most important cultural celebration and the second largest Carnival after Brazil’s Río de Janeiro Carnival. The Carnival de Barranquilla traces its origins to the 19th century but took on its modern form in 1903 from which it has evolved from a local cultural celebration into a spectacle of international fame that challenges the norms of Colombia’s society turnings its intimate social spaces and situation into something public and tolerated. The music, costumes, dances, colors and joy are the result of three centuries of resistance, conflict and domination where Indigenous, native to the Americas, European, and African cultures were fused into a unique one. Celebrated annually in that Caribbean city, the Carnival de Barranquilla was declared Cultural Heritage of Colombia in 2001 by the Congress of the Republic. Following this, UNESCO declared it in 2003 a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Richard Cross took this photograph during his stay in Colombia as a volunteer for Peace Corps between 1977-1978. During this time, he worked with Colombian anthropologist Nina S. de Friedemann in an anthropological study of the community of San Basilio de Palenque, descendants of the Africans who escaped Spanish slavery and formed the first community of freed Africans in the Americas. While collecting field information, researchers examined the different manifestations of the carnival in different places throughout the Caribbean region. During this, it was discovered that Palenqueros organized themselves into comparsas (dance troupes) that participated in annual festivities in Cartagena and Barranquilla. Through these Palenque-based comparsas, researchers observed the vestiges of the cabildo, refuge of their beliefs, artifacts, languages, customs and African rituals, and of the cuagros, the basic unit of social organization in Palenque de San Basilio.
Un grupo de muchachos en disfraz caminan lado a lado en fila sobre una calle no pavimentada en camino a las celebraciones del Carnaval de Barranquilla. El carnaval se celebra en la ciudad caribeña de Barranquilla, la capital del departamento de Atlántico. Parados a su alrededor se observan muchos niños y muchachos. Al fondo de la imagen se observan varias casas y postes de cables de electricidad. El grupo de muchachos en disfraz llevan un turbante grande y floreado que cuenta con una cola de tela larga decorada con encaje. También cargan un machete de madera, el cual usarán durante la danza. Aunque el grupo de membresía de los danzantes se desconoce, su disfraz es evidencia de que son miembros de uno de los muchos congos, comparsas que realizan la celebrada danza del congo, una danza inspirada en las tradiciones de guerreros africanos. Barranquilla fue fundada como ciudad y puerto en 1627 por la corona Española y está ubicada sobre el costado occidental del río Magdalena en el departamento de Atlántico sobre la costa del Mar Caribe. Desde los años treinta, Barranquilla ha servido como el punto de entrada hacia el país a miles de inmigrantes que con el paso del tiempo se sumaron a la ya existente diversidad humana de Colombia, convirtiendo a Barranquilla en el segundo puerto más importante y principal centro económico del país, siendo designada en 1993 como distrito especial, industrial, y portuario. La ciudad de Barranquilla es sede del Carnaval de Barranquilla, la celebración cultural más importante de Colombia y el segundo carnaval más grande después del Carnaval de Río de Janeiro en Brasil. El Carnaval traza sus orígenes al siglo XIX pero tomó su forma moderna en 1903 de donde ha evolucionado de una celebración cultural y local a un espectáculo de fama mundial que reta las normas de la sociedad colombiana convirtiendo a espacios y situaciónes íntimas en algo público y tolerado. La música, los disfraces, las danzas, el color y la alegría es resultado de tres siglos de resistencia, conflicto, y dominación donde se fusionó a las culturas indígena, nativa de las Américas, la europea y la africana, formando una cultura única. Celebrado anualmente en esa entidad caribeña, el Carnaval de Barranquilla fue declarado en el año 2001 Patrimonio Cultural de Colombia por el Congreso de la República. Posteriormente, en el año 2003, la UNESCO lo declaró Patrimonio Oral e Inmaterial de la Humanidad. Richard Cross tomó esta fotografía durante su estancia en Colombia durante su tiempo como voluntario de la organización estadounidense Peace Corps entre los años 1977-1978 mientras trabajaba con la antropóloga colombiana Nina S. de Friedemann en la investigación antropológica de la comunidad de afro-colombianos de Palenque de San Basilio, descendientes de los africanos que escaparon la esclavitud para luego fundar la primera comunidad de africanos libertos en las Américas. La recolección de información en terreno llevo a los investigadores a emprender una examinación de las diferentes manifestaciones del carnaval en diversos lugares de la region caribeña. Durante esta actividad se descubrió que los palenqueros se organizaban en comparsas que participaban en las festividades de Cartagena y de Barranquilla. A través de estas comparsas palenqueras, se observaron los vestigios del cabildo, refugio de creencias, artefactos, idiomas, costumbres, y ritos africanos, y de los cuagros, unidad básica de organización social de Palenque de San Basilio.
Type
image
Format
Photographs
image/jpeg
Black-And-White Negatives
Extent
35 mm
Identifier
99.01.RCr.N35.B18.03.12.21
http://digital-collections.csun.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p17169coll1/id/12190
Subject
Dancers
Dance costume
Carnival--Colombia--Barranquilla
Place
Barranquilla (Colombia)
Relation
99.01.RCr.N35.B18.03.12.21.tif
Richard Cross Photographs
California State University Northridge. University Library. Special Collections & Archives. Tom & Ethel Bradley Center

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