Belgian Week in Cuba

Havana, Nov 5. -Artworks and community projects from collaboration will be at the 6th Belgian Week in Cuba, from November 8 to 15, as announced by Adam Koenraad, Belgian Ambassador to Havana, on Friday.Sponsored by the Cuban Ministry of Culture, the Office of the Historian of Havana and the Belgian Embassy, the Belgian Week is not aimed at exporting Belgian cultural expressions to Cuba, but creating new expressions from mutual contribution, said the Belgian Ambassador.

Among the options is the Belgian conga "La Nouvelle Flibuste" or Buccaneer, which is the result of a workshop with Cuban adolescents from Havana and will open and close the Belgian Week, with a tour of the oldest streets in Havana.

The Belgian conga gives life to an unusual cultural product combining musical post-modernity and part of the Cuban traditions of African origin.

The audience will be able to enjoy contemporary shows by the companies Irene K, from Belgium, and Retazos, from Cuba.

On November 8 both groups will stage a choreography called "Inside Time/Outside Space", including installations to call people's attention on the landscape.

On November 15, they will perform in Las Carolinas, the venue of Retazos.

A small sample of Belgian cinema will be screened at the Cuban Cinematheque, including the films "The Iceberg", "Meisje", "Crazy Love" and "Ultranova", among others.

The Cuban group Camerata Romeu will give a concert with a repertoire of Cuban and Belgian music at the Saint Francis of Assisi Minor Basilica, including songs by Belgian songwriters Guillaume Lekeu and Marc-Henri Cykiert, and Cuban musicians Carlos Fariñas, Alfredo Diez Nieto and Yadira Cobo.

During Belgian Week, people will be able to visit an exhibition of traditional and modern laces from Flanders, besides attending a conference on the folkloric character Tchantch ís, from Lieja, at the specialized library of Vitrina de Valonia. (Prensa Latina)