“This musical-dance genre constitutes one of the basic expressions of Cuban music,” the ICM stressed.
MIAMI, United States. – The practice of Cuban son was inscribed this Wednesday on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The decision was adopted during the meeting of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee, which meets in the city of New Delhi, India, according to a statement from the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM).
“We welcome this UNESCO declaration, news that we will celebrate throughout the Island and that we understand as a well-deserved tribute to the creativity and joy of an entire people and as recognition to all the soneros of the world and to so many bearers who have kept one of the most robust traditions of the national cultural heritage alive and latent,” the ICM celebrated.
According to the entity, the Committee’s decision was supported by “a broad and substantial file” prepared “by the bearers with the support of the Center for Research and Development of Cuban Music, the Cuban Institute of Music, the National Council of Houses of Culture and the National Council of Cultural Heritage.”
In this way, the candidacy was presented as a joint construction between communities that bear the son and several state cultural institutions, which technically supported the process before UNESCO.
In its note, the ICM defines son as a central component of the country’s culture: “Recognised as an essential element of national cultural identity, son in its different variants enjoys great vitality throughout the country and has extended its influence to the entire world.”
The organization remembers that, “since its birth in the eastern region of Cuba, this music-dance genre constitutes one of the basic expressions of Cuban music, with a high degree of hybridization of African and Hispanic music.” He also adds that son “reached its greatest peak in the 20s of the last century, with the emergence and development of commercial radio broadcasting” and that it was declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation in 2012.
For its part, UNESCO assures that “son is a traditional music and dance practice that combines singing, instruments, rhythm and movement.” Furthermore, he emphasizes that it is performed in a duo or group, that it mixes improvisation with structured patterns, that its lyrics are inspired by everyday life and are transmitted orally, and that it integrates African and European musical influences, with a dance closely linked to the bass line and instrumental accompaniment.
The ICM specified that as of this Wednesday the son joins other indigenous expressions that make up UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, such as the rumba, the Cuban point, the French tomb, the parrandas of central Cuba and the bolero.
Now, son is officially consolidated as one of the backbones of the country’s musical imagination and as a living practice that continues to articulate identities, memories and community spaces, as recognized by both the ICM and UNESCO itself.
