Cultural diversity and Dominican idiosyncrasy manifest in INTEC

SANTO DOMINGO. – The anthropologist Fátima Portorreal, professor in the Area of ​​Social Sciences and Humanities of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), accompanied by her colleague Carlos Andújar, a specialist in the anthropology of religion, held the event “the Gagá in the framework of popular Dominican religiosity”, to analyze this religious manifestation that takes place mainly in the country's bateyes during the Easter week.

Gagá is a mixture of Catholicism and voodoo that began to spread through the sugar mills of the Dominican Republic between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It was previously practiced in border areas.

The anthropologists indicated that many cultural scholars describe gagá as a festival with which both Haitians and Dominicans who live in the bateyes welcome spring and the productivity of the crops.

Dalul Ordehi, dean of the Area of ​​Social Sciences and Humanities, specified that part of INTEC's values ​​is openness to any type of cultural and social manifestation, regardless of where they come from. “That is why we have brought a group from Gagá to campus to learn about these cultural manifestations that are so deeply rooted in our country and that perhaps we do not have access to go see them in their context.”

The meeting was enlivened by a performance of Gagá by the Papito Mateo group from Villa Altagracia.