“The festival is a cultural show in which indigenous peoples and diasporas’ cultures will be shared, enhancing the African, Chinese, Jewish and other cultures that form part of the national identity,” said organizer Carol Britton.
The Costa Rican legislature changed Oct. 12 from Day of Discovery and Race to Cultures Day in 1994 to recognize the diverse backgrounds and contributions of the nation's people.
An indigenous rights issue has put Costa Rica’s much-vaunted human rights record to the test as the country struggles to protect members of the Bribrí and Teribe indigenous communities from non-indigenous people who have forcibly, and at times violently, removed them from indigenous ancestral lands.
“We want many people to be able to support the Cabécares, not only those who live in Costa Rica," student Carlos Soto told The Tico Times. "It’s a platform that allows an extensive audience to help us."
Portraitist Lucas Iturriza has spent the past half-decade capturing faces on film and talking with his subjects about their lives. The purpose of the project has been to celebrate the diversity of Costa Rica – not just as faces and skin colors, but as backgrounds and lifestyles.
The moment tourists arrive at a Costa Rican airport, they see artifacts of the Boruca people: elaborately painted balsawood masks hang in the souvenir shops, sculpted like monsters, jaguars, and playful demons. Travelers stop, lean into those masks, and wonder, Now where did these come from?
The National Museum recently opened a curious new exhibition, “Conquistas Sociales en Costa Rica.” While “conquista” in this context can be translated most accurately as “achievement,” visitors will appreciate the victorious tone the exhibit gives to Costa Rica’s conquests of injustice and inequality.
After more than 10 years of debate, lawmakers approved a bill in a first round vote Wednesday to reform Costa Rica’s Constitution to redefine the Central American country as a “multiethnic and plurinational” republic. The bill would add language to Article 1 of the constitution, which defines Costa Rica as a “democratic, free and independent” republic.
