Two Congos Ask UNESCO to Honor Rumba

 

La Septante is an open-air place for music in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Recently, Manda Chante sang the gentle opening to "Independence Cha Cha" there. It is an old song that represented African anti-colonial movements.

The song was first played one evening in Brussels, Belgium in February 1960. At that time, talks for Congo's freedom from Belgium were taking place. It energized¹ Congolese representatives. Within four months, Congo was independent.

Sixty-one years later, rumba remains² an important part of African music. Rumba is a kind of music and dance that came from African people in Cuba. A movement has started to establish its reputation and secure its protection.

Officials in Kinshasa and Brazzaville, the capital of the neighboring Republic of the Congo, have asked the United Nations to recognize Congolese rumba. They say it is an important part of culture of their two countries.

Officials of the two Congos sent their request to UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. They are asking that rumba be added to the U.N.'s list of intangible cultural heritage. The list recognizes important cultural activities and skills around the world.

This list helps demonstrate the diversity of shared human history and brings attention to it. If Congolese rumba were added, it would join a list of hundreds of customs from around the world. The list already has music from Ireland called Irish harping³, a Serbian dance called kolo, and reggae music from Jamaica.

Rumba was born in Cuba in the 1800s. It combines African drum sounds with Spanish musical sounds. Cuba was once a Spanish colony.

The musical form was brought back to Africa in the early 1900s on sound recordings⁴. It found its way to a ready group of listeners in the two Congos, who recognized the sounds as their own.

The singer Manda in Kinshasa said, "If you look at modern rumba, we have elevated and developed it."

Andre Yoka is the director of the National Institute for the Arts in Kinshasa. He is leading the movement to add rumba to the UNESCO list. He said, "They took our ancestors to the Americas in the 15th or 16th century." He said rumba was created with the same influences as the story that formed Congo.

The documents sent to UNESCO say the name rumba comes from "Nkumba." "Nkumba" means belly⁵ button in a local language. The belly button, or navel, is a part of the body above the stomach. "Nkumba" is a dance that was born "in the ancient kingdom of Kongo."

Catherine Kathungu Furaha is Congo's minister of art and culture. She said when Congolese ancestors in foreign countries wanted to remember their history, their beginning and their memory, "they danced the navel dance."

She added: "We want rumba to be recognized as ours. It is our identity."

Words in This Story

reputation – n. the common opinion that people have about someone or something: the way in which people think of someone or something

diversity – n. the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization

elevate – v. to raise to a higher rank or level

reference – n. the act of mentioning something in speech or in writing

icon⁶ – n. a person who is very successful and admired

1 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 harping   

n.反复述说

参考例句：

• Don't keep harping on like that. 别那样唠叨个没完。
• You're always harping on the samestring. 你总是老调重弹。

4 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

5 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

6 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。