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Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collection, 2015.196.296.1, Connecticut Historical S ...
Cultural Awareness Day at Hartford Civic Center
Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collection, 2015.196.296.1, Connecticut Historical Society, Copyright Undetermined

Cultural Awareness Day at Hartford Civic Center

Subject (American)
Subject (Polish-American)
Date2003 June
Mediumslides
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.296.1-.12
Description2015.196.296.1: Slide showing CCHAP/Institute for Community Research table, with intern Nina Kassa talking to a Ukrainian participant

2015.196.296.2: Slide showing Mayor Eddie Perez with the Polish Cultural Club of Greater Hartford table (left to right) Krystyna Farley, Mayor Eddie Perez, Marek Czarnecki, Ed Farley

2015.196.296.3: Slide showing Polish Cultural Club of Greater Hartford table (left to right) Marek Czarnecki, Ed Farley (seated), Ursula Brodowicz, Krystyna Farley

2015.196.296.4-.12: Slides showing performance by Negrura Peruana
NotesSubject Note: The Polish Cultural Club of Greater Hartford “was established in 1976 to preserve and promote the history, culture and customs of Poland with fellow Americans." An active organization that has held many meetings at the Polish National Home on Charter Oak Avenue in Hartford, the Club sponsors lectures, seasonal celebrations such as Wigilia at Christmas time, the annual szopka festival, and gives scholarships and support to Scouts groups. The Club collaborates with the Polish Foundation and the Central Connecticut State University Polish Studies Department and Library in New Britain. In a continuation of the living tradition of creating nativity scenes from humble and re-used materials, the Polish Cultural Club of Greater Hartford sponsors an annual November contest and festival at the Polish National Home in Hartford. Children from several Greater Hartford schools create their versions of the Szopka Krakowska, designing elaborate mangers to mimic the domes, towers, balconies, and roofs of local buildings in Krakow. They use recycled materials such as juice bottles, aluminum foil, cardboard boxes and toy figures. The tradition of making elaborate manger scenes depicting the birth of Jesus at Christmas draws from the centuries-old ancient practice of staging nativity plays in village crèches carrying a szopka as a scene or small stage. The word szopka means shed, and refers to the humble stable where Jesus was born. The Szopka Festival sponsored by the Polish Cultural Club of Greater Hartford has been held at the Polish National Home every Thanksgiving weekend for several decades.


Subject Note: Connecticut is home to a growing community of Peruvian immigrants, the state’s second largest Latino/a group after Puerto Ricans. Approximately 40,000 Peruvians live in Connecticut, and Stamford has Lima Peru as its sister city. The Peruvian American Community Center has been celebrating the homeland’s Independence in Stamford since 1991. Several Peruvian restaurants across the state serve a variety of regional cuisines, and Peruvian newspapers publish in Connecticut. Peruvian community members work in both service industry and white-collar jobs. The first Peruvian Club in Hartford was formed in 1966, and the Peruvian American Cultural Association was formed in 1992 by musician Armando Zarazu and was active for several years in organizing events such as these depicted. Later a prominent organization that began as a Hartford association of professionals from the Ancash region developed into the Association of Peruvian American Professionals. A long-running Peruvian music show broadcasts on WTRC/Trinity College radio station since 1978. The Peruvian Consulate has established an office in Hartford to provide services to the community. The Consulate has sponsored several cultural activities over the years, including a celebration of Peruvian Independence Day on July 28 with events such as a celebration mass at St. Joseph Cathedral in Hartford and sometimes at performing arts spaces in Hartford.

A notable activity of the Peruvian community in Hartford takes place annually in October. The Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles (HESMIPERU), a religious fraternity organized locally in 1968, holds a mass and solemn procession through the streets around Our lady of Sorrows Church, carrying its revered statue of the Lord of Miracles.

CCHAP has documented several Peruvian community events and festivals, and has worked closely with the music group depicted, Negrura Peruana, since first meeting them at this event in 2003.


Biographical Note: Negrura Peruana performs the music and dance of Peru’s African and criollo population. African rhythms forbidden on drums could be played surreptitiously on packing boxes, giving rise to the signature instrument in the music of black Peru, the cajón. Negrura Peruana uses a number of percussion instruments, including the cajón, the quijada de burro - the jaw of a mule, the campana - a cowbell, the cajita – a little box played by flipping its lid, conga drums, and bongos. Songs often take a call and response form, with texts featuring storytelling, satire, and social commentary. The musicians accompany dancers performing dances such as the festejo, a dance of celebration and sometimes competition between men; the landó, with a slower tempo possibly derived from a matrimonial dance with Angolan roots; the zamacueca as a more Spanish-influenced version of landó; and the alcatraz, which tells a humorous story with two dancers trying to light a piece of cloth on their back ends – or avoid being lit. Growing up in Lima, members of the group heard and played these styles all their lives, with music as a central part of community celebrations, gatherings, and informal competitions. Although they are not professionally trained musicians, their performances show a deep love for the music and a spontaneous but highly skilled mastery of the complex rhythms, accents, and phrasings especially when accompanying the dancers. Members of Negrura Peruana immigrated from Lima to the Hartford area of Connecticut in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since then the group has opened for Afro-Peruvian music icon Eva Ayllón (nominated for a Grammy in 2002), performing also at events such as Hartford’s Latino Expo and Samba Fest at the Riverfront. They played at the Ritmos Di Mi Tierra Peru celebration at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Hartford, and for several years as part of the World of Sounds Outdoor Concert Series of the Hartford Public Library. The Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program presented Negrura Peruana at the American Folklife Center and Kennedy Center Homegrown Concert Series in Washington, DC in 2005, and those concerts can be seen online. Based in the Greater Hartford area, Negrura Peruana is a popular band for festivals, special activities, and house parties throughout the large Peruvian community in Connecticut.


Additional audio, video, and/or photographic materials exist in the archive relating to these communities and artists.


Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
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