The Cabildo de Regla Project is a community initiative in the town of Regla, La Habana, Cuba, to re-initiate their Orisha processional tradition within the Lucumí religious practice, also known as Regla de Ocha or Santería. As a descendant of the famed Cabildos of Yemaya, the Cabildo de Regla processional occurs every September 9th at 9 in the morning. It is open to the public, but we remind everyone that this is a religious ceremony, not a tourism event or performance.
This digital humanities site serves as a virtual space for our visual archive and information center for the project. Please read our detailed terms of use and information on our archive here.
From the Cabildo de Regla’s initiation, this project has intented to help foster knowledge production about its local history of cabildos de nación, the history of the African Diaspora in Regla, the history of Cuban African religious life in Regla, and encouraging elders to share their knowledge with subsequent generations. We created this space to be interactive and accessible. The video below reflects the type of ethnographic, documentary, and artistry we have created in the documentation process. It intends to demonstrate how we can potentially utilize the sound and visuals to present this re-initiated Lucumí processional tradition.
Explore the Archive
This digital archive reflects three categories of the Cabildo de Regla images from 2015-2024: preparations, people, and processionals. Visitors can view the archival images by category or by the year. Please feel free to engage, leave comments, memories, and/or feedback in accordance with our code of conduct.
Preparations
People
Processionals
Latest News
The 10th anniversary week begins with the inaguration of ” The Cabildo de Regla: A Retrospective” held at the Regla Movie Theatre on September 4th at 4pm. On September 6th, there is a Drumming Ceremony for the Eggun, dedicated to Remegio Herrera-Adechina, Pepa Herrera-Echú Bí, and Susana Cantero-Omí Toké, held at the Ceiba tree at […]
The Cabildo de Regla Digital Archive is honored to recieve a 2025 Micro-Grant from the Caribbean Digital Scholarship Collective to support this site. Please visit the CDSC Official Website or contact them at contact@cdsccollective.or g for more information on this organization and the various programs. The Caribbean Digital Scholarship Collective programs are generously supported by […]
The Cabildo Tras el Lente exhibit debuted at the Regla Municipal Library on September 1, 2024, curated by Juan Dionisio Lozano Gomez and Nayelis Martinez. It featured photographs of the Cabildo de Regla from 2016 and 2017, as well as an altar space dedicated to the Orisha Yemaya. The exhibit closes on September 15, 2024. […]
The Cabildo de Regla: A Retrospective exhibit opened at the Yoruba Center in La Habana, Cuba on December 11, 2024 as part of the International Conference for the Decade for People of African Descent, held in La Habana Cuba from December 9-13, 2024. The exhibit will be on view at the Yoruba Center until February […]
The Cabildo de Regla: A Retrospective exhibit opened at the Regla Municipal Library on February 26, 2025. The exhibit featured photographic images (archival prints) reflecting upon the last 10 years of the Cabildo de Regla project, and featured the Orisha adornments used in the processionals. This exhibit closes April 1, 2025. This exhibit is curated […]
