Introduction
The Photographic Center Northwest and Seattle University are pleased to present a unique and riveting photographic exhibition, entitled Crossing the Water: A Path to the Afro-Cuban Spirit World, by photographers and authors Claire Garoutte and Anneke Wambaugh. The 50 images selected for this show and the thought-provoking text panels that accompany it have been edited from their upcoming book of the same title. This Duke University Presspublication has a scheduled release date of January 2008.
Focusing on a single ritual expert and his religious environment, the exhibitionoffers an unusually intimate and dynamic view of the Cuban religious practices of Santería, Palo Monte, and Espiritismo. Compelling photographs, informed text panels, and succinct captions combine to illustrate the spiritual power and energy of ritual as enacted by Santiago Castañeda Vera, a highly respected priest living in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba. Santiago’s embrace of more than one religion and the practice of blending aspects of different traditions are by no means unusual in Cuba. Over the last century, there has been a great deal of symbiotic interplay between Santería and Palo Monte, on the one hand, and of these Afro-Cuban religious traditions with Roman Catholicism and Espiritismo, on the other. This cross-fertilization is particularly pronounced on the eastern end of the island. Santiago, although rooted in particular spiritual traditions, has forged his own path. Free to combine, transform, improvise, and innovate as he sees fit, Santiago practices his religion, as he is wont to say, en mi manera—“in my own way.”
The photographic essays in this exhibition focus on Santiago Castañeda Vera’s ritual artistry and on the sacred objects, thrones, and altars that mediate his ongoing dialogue with the spirit world. The text panels draw on interviews with this prolific priest, scholarly research, and the personal experience of the authors. Complementing the photographs, they anchor the viewer in Santiago’s world and contextualize his ideas within the larger spectrum of Afro-Cuban spirituality.
Introduction page 2
The religion of Santería, as it is popularly known, has its primary origins among the Yoruba peoples of central Nigeria and neighboring regions of West Africa. Santería centers on interaction with a complex and richly defined pantheon of spirit beings who are referred to interchangeably as the orichas or “the saints.” While all of these spirits embody the aché or life force of the High God Olofi, each oricha’s inherent power is associated with particular aspects of nature and the cosmos as well as specific domains of human thought and activity. The spirit is said to “own” these physical, spiritual, and social dimensions of our world. Taken together, the orichas mirror “the variety and possible ways of being in the world,” both creative and destructive, and offer practitioners a barometer of sorts, a means to weigh different existential options and strike a sense of balance in their lives. The images included in this exhibition document the ritual feeding of Santiago’s orichas as well as the magnificent temporary altars or “thrones” that are periodically created and offered up to these spirits.
The sister Afro-Cuban religion of Palo Monte, which literally means “trees of the forest,” is rooted in the cultural, linguistic, and ritual practices of Bantu-speaking peoples from Kongo and Angola in West-Central Africa. Cubans use the term Congo to identify religious and other forms of expressive behavior with origins in this part of Africa. The Palo Monte religion is steeped in the powers of the dead and the practical and mystical forces that charge the natural world. These energies coalesce in Congo-Cuban ideas about el monte or “the forest.” Physically and conceptually rich, this sacred terrain is the dwelling place of the powers that infuse the Palo universe and the source of many of the materials—leaves, plants, trees, and other substances—essential to Palo religious practice.
The central icon of this religion is the prenda, a cauldron densely packed with forest branches, animal remains, stones, earth, human bones, and other primarily organic elements. Energized by a spirit of the dead, each of these power assemblages also serves as the home of a particular Palo spirit. Santiago’s prendas are the focus of daily ritual attention. A visually arresting series of photographs conveys the drama of the yearly sacrifice to these forces and documents Santiago’s possession by the formidable Palo spirit, Sarabanda.
Introduction page 3
Cuban Espiritismo is based on the mid-nineteenth century metaphysical explorations and publications of the French spiritist Allan Kardec. In the 1860s, the movement made its way to Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean, where it was enthusiastically received. Broadly defined, Spiritism is a body of doctrines and clairvoyant techniques aimed at summoning spirits of the dead to interact with the living. This is generally achieved with the help of a human medium who directly or indirectly channels the energy of these beings. Spiritists such as Santiago work to free dead souls from the base “material” world and help them attain successive degrees of enlightenment. In return, the departed guide and empower the living. An eclectic movement from its inception, Spiritism assumed many guises in its new creole (i.e. Cuban) environment. The final photographic segment in the show is devoted to Santiago’s celebration of a “spiritual mass,” a uniquely Cuban ceremony performed in honor of the departed that culminates in the boisterous arrival of the Congo spirits of the dead, down-to-earth spirits of superior healing energy who interact with all members of the congregation.
Healing is the primary focus of all religious activity in Santiago’s house. As such, it is the powerful conceptual thread linking all parts of this exhibition. Whether in the form of communal ritualizing, religious initiation, or the one-on-one spirit work that characterizes his private practice, Santiago’s ability to help others engages him at his full potential, as a gifted and versatile practitioner of three remarkable and, on various levels, intertwined religions. Through photographs and accompanying text panels, this exhibition provides a visual and emotional entry into Santiago’s world and evokes the dynamism and spiritual resonance of life as lived in his ritual family, a family that to an extent we now claim as our own.
Claire Garoutte and Anneke Wambaugh bring years of experience and research to this exhibition. Their evocative photographs not only draw the viewer into a world rarely witnessed by outsiders. They offer viewers an unprecedented opportunity to better understand the diversity of Afro-Cuban religious traditions. This deeply affecting visual document encourages its audience to look beyond stereotypical depictions of a religious culture and a nation that has so often been misrepresented and misunderstood.
