XVI International Conference: African And Afro-American Culture
Santiago De Cuba, from 12 to 16 April 2017
Fernando Ortiz African Cultural Center

Dedicated to: Africa and its influence on the countries of the region

XIII Conference: Pedro Perez Sarduy, Marta Cordiés Jackson and ambassadors in Cuba from Gambia and Guinea Ecuatorial

The event aims to bring together experts, scholars and people interested in African and African American issues, open a spacenfor reflection on the most pressing problems of the subject, from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Researchers from the social sciences, artists, doctors, filmmakers, musicians, choreographers, dancers, priests and practitioners of folk religions of African origin and the general public are called upon to establish a discussion on the following topics.

 I- GENERAL THEMES

ü  Pre-colonial Africa: social, political and economic structures.

ü  Colonial Africa. Major European establishments. Formation of countries and nationalities in Africa. Wars of Liberation. Africa's relations with the world.

ü  The Atlantic slave trade. Its treatment in the current historiography. The slave and forms of manumission. Palenque and maroons. African attitude to trafficking.

ü  The African contribution as a component of the national identity of the peoples of the Americas and the Caribbean for recognition of our historical subject.

ü  Diachrony and synchrony in linguistic, philosophical, historical and literary studies on Africa, Afro-America and Afro-Caribbean.

ü  Gender, race and identity.

ü  Africans and people of African descent in the New World.

ü  Multiculturalism, acculturation and re-Africanization as current trends to provide treatment to the African component in the New World.

ü  The political and cultural relations between Africa and the peoples of the Americas and the Caribbean

ü  Contemporary African and American religions.

ü  Africa in the twenty-first century. The current cultural problems of the continent.

ü  African Diaspora in the Caribbean. Diachrony and synchrony of the African presence
 

II- WORKSHOPS

A- Workshop, "Colour and Shape"

Dedicated to all manifestations of the visual arts in which the African influence becomes apparent. Painters, sculptors, ceramists, engravers, photographers may participate with theoretical works about the following topics:

ü    The African influence in the visual arts of the New World. Spheres of contacts and influence

ü    The visual arts on the African continent.

ü    The artist's concept in Africa and America.

They may also participate with an exhibit of their work, with no more than three pieces, which will be displayed in a collective hall. Or, prior coordination with the management of the event, they may participate with a personal exhibition.

Registration regulations comply with the general regulations of the event. For these cases, the application  must be made before 30 October 2016 and pictures of the proposed pieces must be sent.

B- Workshop "Images"

Dedicated to ethnological film and video, to collect the image and treatment given to the African influence on American culture and African cinema.

Participants can show films, videos and present theoretical work on topics such as:

ü Literature, film and video. Treatment of African descendants in the media.

ü Ethnological video. Its contribution to the knowledge of African reality and the process of transculturation thereof in the New World.

Participants must enter on the deadline for submission of papers, the technical means necessary for their exhibits. Videos and other film materials may not exceed 30 minutes. In the case of producers who wish to present their works, they will be exhibited in theatres in the city and debates on them may be organised.

Registration regulations comply with the general regulations of the event.

C- Workshop "The Ancestral Rhythm"

Dedicated to the music and dances of African origin.

Choreographers, musicians, dancers, musicologists and scholars in general may participate; they will discuss the following topics:

ü  African music: history, evolution and current situation on the continent.

ü  The African influence in the music and dances of the New World. Analogies, differences, changes and creation process up to the creation of national music.

ü  The African element as a basis for staging musical and dance works.

Performanes not exceeding 10 minutes, with no more than 4 dancers may be presented. In cases of groups that decide to participate in full, they will be provided scenic areas of the city to perform, it being understood that these functions are part of their exposure in the event and will not be charged.

Registration regulations comply with the general regulations of the event.

D - Workshop "Mask"

Dedicated to the theatre. The African influence and African descendants on stage, for a contemporary view thereof.

Actors, theatre directors, set designers and students of theatre in general may participate; they can exchange experiences from the following topics under discussion:

♠   Presence of African elements in theatrical productions

♠   African descent on stage, both as subjects of history and as playwrights

♠   The theatre in Africa

In cases of groups that decide to participate in full, they will be provided scenic areas of the city to perform, it being understood that these functions are part of their exposure in the event and will not be charged. Registration regulations are those general regulations of the event. In the case of theatre groups who wish to participate and prior coordination with the management of the event, a special registration fee may be established per group.

III- SYMPOSIUM: Medicine and Culture

A space dedicated to the relationships established between the medical sciences and disciplines of social sciences from the practice of the Cuban internationalist medicine and other health agencies on the African continent, which also set intercultural contacts through the medical channel. This space allows to present their experiences both in the field of medicine with works of the specialty and the challenges that the experience that the culture shock provided them with.

Papers could be presented on:

ü  Psychiatry and religion

ü  Traditional African medicine. Its evolution and relationship with others in the New World

ü  Tropical Medicine in Africa and Afro-America

ü  The Cuban medical experience in Africa. Relations between medicine and culture

ü  Doctors without Borders and other similar organisations in their practice of medicine and culture

ü  The World Health Organisation and its role in Africa

ü  AIDS and other epidemic diseases in Africa

ü  Disease and ethnicity in the black population

ü  Medicine, medical policies and human relations

ü  Endemic diseases in Africa and America

ü  Epidemics, viruses and control of the spread of disease

IVº- GENERAL RULES OF PARTICIPATION

A- Reception of Abstracts of papers and communications

Abstracts up to 2 pages should provide general information on the main topic of the papers and will include: title, full name of the author or authors, scientific degree, educational category, institution and country of origin, address, phone, fax, e-mail.

The papers may not have more than two authors and they may not appear in more than two publications.

The author or co-author who cannot attend the event will receive their diploma of speaker and their disc with the publication if they pay the registration fee.

In the case of the workshops, both theoretical works and photographs of art exhibitions, abstracts and records of filmic works and data of the exhibit must be submitted for inclusion in the Proceedings of the Conference.

They will be received no later than 30 October 2016.

B-Presentations

They may have a maximum length of 10 pages – if this length is exceeded, the paper will not be published – and 15 minutes of presentation. They papers will be published on a CD, for which they must be delivered in digital format: double spacing, Arial 12 for the text and Arial 10 for bibliography and notes (the latter will be placed at the end of the document and its extension does not count in the number of pages).

Papers will be accepted until 30 December 2016.

Only the papers that meet the above requirements will be published. The Organising Committee is not responsible for the publication of the works which, despite being accepted, arrive after the deadlines provided as admission or do not meet the requirements of this announcement.

C-Workshops

Participants in the workshops. In the case of visual artists, they should send a short CV of no more than two pages and photographs of the exhibit that they will present for inclusion in the Proceedings; also, playwrights and dancers will accompany the synopsis of their works, if they will submit them, with a curriculum no more than one page; and if it is a group, information about its history no more than three pages.

The Organising Committee reserves the right to accept the papers or not. In all cases, it will inform the interested parties on the matter until 15 January 2017.

D- Registration fee

Speakers and delegates          200.00 USD / MN

Students                                  100.00 USD / MN

It will be paid at the time of their accreditation upon arrival at the event.

E- Accommodation

There will be modules of affordable accommodations in hotels in the city, which may be requested through the Organising Committee or the tour operator working for the event.

F- Languages ​​

English, French and Spanish

G- Contacts

Dra. Marta E. Cordiés
Director: Fernando Ortiz African Cultural Ce
Ave. Manduley No. 106 esq. A 5ta
Reparto Vista Alegre, Santiago de Cuba, CP: 90400

Telefax: (53-22) 642487
(53-22) 623893 (nights)
E-mail: martacordies@gmail.com

Lic. Maria Liduvina Bergues
Esp. / Relaciones Internacionales
 mcordies@hotmail.com

Lic. Martha Martinez Verges

President Scientific Committee
ccult.f.ortiz@cultstgo.cult.cu

Dr. Luis Mancha

International coordinator
UNESCO Chair in Afroiberoamericanos Studies
E-mail: luis.mancha@uah.es

Professional Congress Organizer (PCO):

Paradiso

Commercial Specialist

Paradiso  turismo cultural

Santiago de Cuba

Email: paradiso@scsc.artex.cu

Phone: 53 22 620214/654814

Note: Please send communications and acknowledgment through the three e-mail addresses to facilitate prompt communication.