On the 22nd of September, the Museum of Ethnology in Hamburg, Germany, hosted once again the official inauguration of the Lateinamerika Herbst. The Lateinamerika Herbst is an annual festival, with a series of events and cultural programmes that deals with political, economic, cultural and social aspects of Latin America and the Caribbean. The events included in the festival will take place in various locations in the city until the 21st of December.
The official innauguration of the festival was marked by the opening of the exhibition “Cuban African Spirits”, that will be exhibited until the 5th of March, and counted with the welcome words by the Cuban Amabassador to Germany, Mr René Juan Mujica Cantelar, as well as the presence of the Soul of Africa Museum of Essen, coorganisers of the exhibition.
In order to show the richness of the cultures and gastronomy of the region, there was typical food from Latin America and music from Cuba.
During the evening, the Executive Director of the EU-LAC Foundation, Paola Amadei, held a speech to mark the opening of the festival and emphasise how the Lateinamerika Herbst makes evident the links between the European Union, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Moreover, the executive director invited the attendees to participate in the upcoming Bridge EU-LAC 2016 - for Ecuador on the 3rd of October. The Bridge EU-LAC is a run over the emblematic Hamburg bridge the Köhlbrandbrücke symbolising the links between the two regions, and which this year in particular seeks to demonstrate the solidarity of these countries with those affected by the earthquakes in Ecuador of last April. For this purpose, funds will be gathered during the event that will be directed to a reconstruction project in Muisne, one of the most affected areas in the country.
Over 1000 visitors attended the inauguration and showed a wide interest for the events that will take place over the course of three months. On the day following the innauguration, the Foundation and the Ethnologic Museum were honoured with the distinguished visit of the Cuban Ambassador in Brussles, Ms Goicochea.
The EU-LAC Foundation, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the Museum of Ethnology, the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with the Latin American and Caribbean Consulates invite the public to participate in the third edition of the Lateinamerika Herbst in Hamburg.
Pictures by: Arne Bosselmann, Museum Für Völkerkunde Hamburg (1 & 4) and Markus Matzel, Soul of Africa Museum, Essen (2 & 3).
