Cuban Folk Instrument Stamps

It is really interesting to compare what countries issue a lot of music-themed stamps verses those who produce very few. It really shows the importance that a particular country or people place on their musical heritage. I think of all the countries in the western hemisphere, Cuba has issued the most music-themed stamps and has issued a great diversity that includes those dedicated to composers, those dedicated to music, and those dedicated to musical instruments.

This post is about a set of three stamps featuring musical instruments that Cuba issued in 1972. Although they are not my favorite stamps, they are rather boring and static and they feature photographs (not well done) rather than some other kind of artistic treatment of their subject. However, while the visual beauty of the stamp is often the way into understanding and appreciating them, there are other things that make stamps important. For me, I find this series rather fascinating in that the choice of instruments reveals the African roots to so much of Cuban music. The set really celebrate Afro-Cuban music and instruments

Traditionally, it has been thought that Cuba was the first place that Columbus landed in the Americas. It became an important place of convergence of the peoples who were indigenous to the Caribbean, Europeans who came to exploit and colonize, and Africans that were enslaved for their labor. It has been a place of great brutality, but also of rich culture. There are distinct elements of culture, and there are those that are a hybrid.

The lowest denomination stamp in this series is dedicated to an instrument named the Abwe on the stamp. It is a shaker made from a hollowed out gourd, covered in a netting that has beads and shells tied into it. When the insturment is shaken, rubbed, or hit, it creates sound as the individual pieces rub against the body. It is an instrument that very clearly comes from the West African shekere.

Instruments of the same type can be found throughout countries in West Africa, but also in other countries in the Americas.

The second stamp in the series features a single-headed drum. It stands vertically and has a narrow body. It also has a head that is tensioned with long cords that run down the body and use wooden wedges to keep them taut. The instrument is the predecessor to the Cuban drum known as the conga drum, an instrument that is indigenous to the islands, though created by descendants of West African slaves.

The Cuban drum looks like many instruments from West African cultures, such as the Nigerian example to the right. These drums are single-headed, are played vertically, have a narrow body, and use the same rope and tension system with wooden wedges that help keep the head taut.

The final stamp features the most interesting instrument. The Iya is the largest drum in a set of three drums known as bàtá. They are drums that come from the Yoruba people in Nigeria. Physically, they are hour glass shaped with one end much larger than the other. It is a double-headed drum, with skins stretched across both open ends. It was very important to the practice of spirituality and religion. In the African diaspora in the Caribbean, it became an important instrument in the practice of santeria.

Check out this demonstration concert featuring bàtá drumming in Cuba.