6/24/12
June Terpstra, Ph.D.
"...assure them that you are made from
love, that you speak from love, because that is from where you were born...many
will laugh at you, many will brand you insane, yet when has madness ever really
mattered here...some will listen, some will stay, and you will grow into
friends, into solidarity, into the forever we dream about...so treasure your
woman, treasure your man, because you are all we have...stand in the present,
draw from the future and shoot with all the ammunition of the past." Anthony Anaxagorou: The Master's Revenge
The Festival of San Juan began yesterday in the Venezuelan town
of Curiepe, Venezuela in the northeastern state
of Miranda, popularly known as Barlevento.
Popular festivals in Venezuela
are a traditional form of expression through which barrio residents take the
public square and surrounding blocks as a community emphasizing their common
history in resistance against the slavery and oppression that brought them to
the Americas. The
festivals represent a combination of African traditions and colonial
Catholicism initiated and mediated through African drumming and dancing
announced by a shell horn across the town. The traditional dances and drums at
the festival dates to the times of slavery when slaves were given three days
off at Solstice. Our intent to observe the festivals here in Venezuela is grounded
in our experiences using ethnography and phenomenological methods of research
as a form of resistance to non-European research modes.
As we entered the town the over the past two days the local
police and Federales are highly visible standing around in groups with guns
strapped to shoulders, parked in official trucks, hanging around stations set
in areas around the square and in apartments overlooking the square. This presence is to prevent the gang violence
of past festivals where struggles occurred when gangs prevented the festival from
occupying the square and took control over the proceedings. These past struggles have at times ended with
shoot-outs and murders. We were informed
by one of the women we interviewed that there are suspicions among Chavez
supporters that the US
sponsored opposition is arming these gangs and encouraging violence to damage
the Chavez government thus opening the door to yet another coup attempt. Our guide informed the police of our group's
intent to observe the festival and later the police allowed us space to
interview people we met at the festival.
In addition to the police uniformed presence are the uniformed
presence of young people in t-shirts representing the government support for
the festival handing out colorful posters and festival program booklets. The T-shirts are also worn by many barrio
residents. Chavez implemented policies
for funding the arts with the Project of the Organic Law of Culture in 2000
with a specific aim of preserving culture.
The Chavez government uses oil revenues to support cultural forms such
as the urban festivals. While the
intent of the government is national cohesion of culture through support for
festivals such as this one the distinct history of exclusion and the religious
aspects remain important to the town's people.
This was most evident in the children who were dressed in a range of
cultural costumes and were waving the red flags provided by the government to
honor the saints.
In her book, "Who Can Stop the Drums? Sujatha Fernandas details
how the cult of San Juan
may be seen along the lines of the patron client relationship where through-out
the year people make requests to the saint and then repay the saint with
promises, loyalty, or the carrying of the statue of the saint on their shoulders. The relationship of the people in the
political sphere represents another level of the patron client
relationship. While for some of the
barrio residents celebrating this year, Chavez is viewed as a benefactor
protecting their interests, the opposition candidate, Mr. Rondanski, the
governor in this area arrives at the church heavily surrounded by guards before
the mass to promote his race in a festival highly associated with black
identity.
The festival celebration represents the construction of lineages
that link contemporary marginality and poverty with the oppression experienced
by earlier generations. We met two maestros/ elder teachers on our visits
to the festival. One revered elder who
explained to us the importance of the two saints, San Juan
Congo
and San Juan Buatista. He led us to the
home of the family that houses the effigy of the San Juan Bautista who
functions as the moral arbiter of purification that Catholicism imposed on the
slave and explained that traditionally by being allowed in the home housing the
saint we should ask the saint to grant our prayers. In contrast, San Juan
Congo
is the figure of slave rebellion that helped free the slaves. The second
maestro/teacher who was introduced to us by a Gambian student attending the
festival, explained to us the importance of the drums in addressing the
continuity of culture from Africa to the Americas
and the legacy of exclusion and inequality in the Americas . The drumming and dancing, was critiqued as
distinct from African traditions while a meaningful embrace of African culture
by the Gambian student studying in Venezuela in the exchange program
established by Chavez.
The fiesta, a historic tradition challenging the unjust
exclusion from membership in cities and states, reflected issues of belonging
and exclusion for each member of our research group. African-American
participants expressed emotional associations with people in the barrio who
looked like an uncle or a grandfather with tears in their eyes and voiced a
longing for cultural traditions to be preserved in the USA as experienced at the San Juan festival. A Muslim participant who
wears traditional hijab fascinated many residents who asked her who she was,
why she was there and wanted photos of her and with her. As the word got out quickly that we were
North Americanos,or as some called us, Yankees ,
a group of young boys whose ages ranged somewhere between 10 -14 initiated a
political discussion with her about the bad things the USA does to their country
and the importance of their country's oil. Their knowledge of history and
politics was impressive.
Mexican-American students described the familiarity of the culture of
the festival and said they felt at home in that regard but that the overt
attention from men was very uncomfortable for them. Another participant
observed the exclusion and discrimination against gays at the festival and in Venezuela
generally.
The festival reminded me ofthe many Saint festivals celebrated
through-out my mother's homeland of Italy . The little church in Curiepe brought back
memories of the church in the town square
of San Pietro Magisano , Italy and even
more so, of beloved family members now deceased. The intense commitment of my Italian family
to Christianity was mirrored by the town's people crowding into the church and
evoked longings for community and cultural traditions never found in the USA . The
community I long for is that which Chavez is fighting for, community committed
to a revolution grounded in social justice and community based on love and
respect for the people. My prayer to the
Saints today was this community for us all.
