Ritual and festive expressions of the Congo culture

Overview

The ritual and festive expressions of the Congo culture encompass the contemporary vision of a collective celebration of the black rebel descendants enslaved during the colonial period. Nowadays, participants play congo, celebrate their freedom, cheerfully sing about their everyday lives and perform representations and sensual dances barefoot, to communicate with the earth. During the Congo season (from 20 January, San Sebastian Day, until Ash Wednesday), participants spend the day in a palisade; the gathering is celebrated in a matriarchal society ruled by a queen and her court; each person has a role to fulfil to protect the queen and members of the palisade from the devils (diablos). On Ash Wednesday, the season concludes with a confrontation between the diablos and the congos; the queen and congos take off their masks and baptize the devils in a symbolic ritual to free them and...

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: Panama
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: Panama
Countries: Panama

How the System Works

Music, Performance and Oral Literature Language, Story and Memory Material Culture, Design and Technology Ceremony, Spirituality and Cosmology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuidc1d0225a-7aa5-47b4-be86-259f9be13c4e

ich_public_ref1383

inscription_year2018

title_enRitual and festive expressions of the Congo culture

title_frLes expressions rituelles et festives de la culture congo

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesPA

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/01383

concepts_primary_namesHistorical reenactment, Ritual dance, Vocal music

concepts_secondary_namesColonial history, Costumes, Festivals, Legendary creatures, Masks, Matriarchy, Oral tradition, Percussion instruments, Performing arts, Religious practice, Religious syncretism, Ritual purification, Slavery

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/11750-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enNot supplied

main_image_copyrightMICI, 2015

main_image_authorLois Iglesias

videoshttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/NFJEK3VEId0

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Historical reenactment Ritual dance Vocal music Colonial history Costumes Festivals Legendary creatures Masks Matriarchy Oral tradition Percussion instruments UNESCO representative list

Review and Corrections

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