Tamb: Curaao's African-Caribbean Ritual and the Politics of Memory

As contemporary Tamb music and dance evolved on the Caribbean island of Curaao, it intertwined sacred and secular, private and public cultural practices, and many traditions from Africa and the New World. As she explores the formal contours of Tamb, Nanette de Jong discovers its variegated history and uncovers its multiple and even contradictory origins. De Jong recounts the personal stories and experiences of Afro-Curaaoans as they perform Tambu-some who complain of its violence and low-class attraction and others who champion Tamb as a powerful tool of collective memory as well as a way to imagine the future.