DOMINICAN REPUBLIC : ARTS AND CULTURE

Architecture :

a number of Dominican towns were founded by the Spanish colonists. Their centre is built according to the principal of traditional urbinisation in a checkerboard plan, right angled intersections and straight roads. The Spanish and Moorish influence is felt in the colonial towns. All the same, the Dominican towns have grown without much attention to esthetics nor practicality. Whether rich or poor, the dominican dwelling is principally individual and consequently the Dominican city is flat and very spread out. The classic wooden creol home is found outside the urban zones. Colourfully painted, they brighten up the Dominican countryside. Nevertheless one notices now a hardening of the country dwellings with houses made from concrete and cement, less authentic but more reassuring.

The origins of merengue :

music is an integral part of daily life and the Merengue is omnipresent in the country. At the same time music, folklore and dance, Merengue is the expression of a whole nation. Juan Luis Guerra is the best international representative of Merengue. The Bachata is a music and dance more popular and rural.

Handcrafts :

amber and larimar jewellery, basketwork, pottery, ceramics, wood sculpture, haitian simplistic paintings. Amber : the origin of amber goes back 48 million years. The word « amber » comes from the Arab word « anabar » which means fossilised resin . It is a relic from the past, both a sacred relic and semi-precious stone. Formed totally naturally, this fossiled plant resin is the result of transformations and mutations that the earth has known over tens of millions of years. Insects, larvas, frozen in time permit scientists to study the prehistoric periods.

The resin forms as the tree’s natural protection against insects. Sticky molasses from the trunk and branches, taking along all material in its path : vegetal or animal, plants and insects. The resin hardens in contact with air. Locked under the … by the earth’s movements, this molasses is slowly transformed into stone by the passage of time and the layers of accumulated sediment. Amber is born.

Painting :

anchored solidly in the island’s popular traditional culture, the paintings are a true life science, spilling into the streets from craft shops. Inherited from the simplistic haitian art forms the paintings represent themes from every day life. They are not the creations of veritable artists but skillfull craftsmen who reproduce hundreds of the same painting, which remain the testimony of the typical and original local craftwork.

Religion :

There is a total freedom of religion in the Dominican Republic, nonetheless one of the objectives of colonization has largely been met and 95% of the population is Catholic. As in all the Caribbean islands, innumerable churches rub shoulders, adventists, evangelists, and live alongside each other with great tolerance. The African origins of the population and the Haitian influence have kept the voodoo rites alive, very present in the Samana region.

Gastronomy :

- Le sancocho : national dish : meat and vegetable stew
- Le moro : rice with red kidney beans
- Le mangu : mashed plantain bananas with fried onions served as an accompaniment for meat or eggs
- Pescado con coco : fish in coconut milk
- Mondongo : tripe, Dominican style
- Congrejo cuisado : marinated crabmeat with herbs
- Pollo arroz habichuela : chicken, rice and red kidney beans

Alcoholic drinks :

rum : brown, classic, strong in flavour ; Anejo old barrelled and to be drunk neat. White, dry and light, ideal in preparing cocktails (pina colada, kaipirina, daiquiri etc)

Wine : no local production. On the other hand one can find some very good Chilean, Argentinian, Spanish and French wines.

The Carnival celebration :

The Carnival celebration dates back to the Spanish conquest. Originally the two periods celebrated corresponded to the days leading up to Lent and the summer solstice ; today it takes place on national independence day, 27 February and the anniversary of the Republic Restoration, 16 August. The Carnival is above all a popular festival where improvization plays a major role, the masks and costumes bringing back customs and traditions, music and characters.