Miguel Barnet receives National Heritage Award for lifetime achievement

For his work in defending the nation’s intangible heritage, Cuban ethnologist and writer Miguel Barnet Lanza, Honorary President of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac), was awarded the National Heritage Prize for Lifetime Achievement.

Barnet Lanza, who is also an outstanding intellectual, said that his obsession with Cuba from a young age was the main reason for him to specialise in subjects that would bring him closer to the roots of our identity. He dedicated the prize to the Cuban thinkers who forged the idea of being a sovereign nation and fighting against all forms of colonialism. «It has always been about emancipation. That is the vocation of our culture. Rescuing and reconstructing the whole tradition of African origin that defines the Cuban identity that Fernando Ortiz spoke of is fundamental. That is why the dedication to these bearers is so important.»

In announcing the news, Sonia Virgen Pérez Mojena, president of the National Council for Cultural Heritage, highlighted Barnet’s legacy in the preservation and enrichment of the historical memory of Cuban heroes, as well as what he continues to do for the protection of the nation’s intangible heritage.

The National Heritage Lifetime Achievement Award will be officially presented in the early days of 2024.

Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez