(April 9, 2002, Long Island City, NY) – P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and CrossPathCulture (CPC) are pleased to host a performance by the internationally acclaimed performer Dorothy Masuku. One of the most popular and influential musicians in Africa, Dorothy Masuku has been performing for more than forty years, and remains a driving force in the contemporary South African urban music scene. With Masuka’s performance on April 27th, South African Liberation Day, P.S.1 marks the closing of its current exhibition The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994 on May 5th and celebrates the last colony - South Africa - to achieve independence.
The concert event will take place in the courtyard of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, located at 22-25 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, New York. New York-based musician Djo Bi Irrie Simon begins 2:00 pm with traditional West African drumming, followed by DJ Mfume, who crosses Afrobeat sounds with new and traditional global music in a new vision of African music. Dorothy Masuka’s performance will begin at 5:00 pm. In case of rain, performances will be held indoors. The event is free of charge for all visitors.
Dorothy Masuka was born in Zimbabwe, but soon moved to South Africa, where she established her musical career and is now revered as the “First Lady of Song.” She began her recording career in 1951 singing her jazz-inflected marabai tunes: a fusion of swing and Zulu melodies, sung with great force and intensity. Her earlier songs, most notably “Kutheni Zulu,” were hard-edged and political, and in 1961, she was forced into exile from South Africa. As an exile, she worked on the cabaret circuit in London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe. She returned to Southern Africa in 1980 and ignited a revival of Southern African jazz. Along with Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela, Masuka performed in the travelling road show African Jazz and Variety and in the South African Broadway-style musical King Kong. She continues to write songs for Makeba and Masekela, and her hits such as “Madiba” and “Pata Pata” (the first African song to reach America's Top 10 pop charts) are a realization of her belief in music’s role in independence momements. Masuka received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the South African Music Awards in 2001. She will be honored by the AfroPop Radio Network with an induction into the AfroPop Hall of Fame at a benefit concert at the Bottom Line on April 29t, where Masuka will perform with Bonnie Raitt, Thomas Mfume, and the Mahotella Queens.
to get to p.s.1 by Subway
E or V to 23 St/Ely Ave. Exit onto 44th to Jackson Ave. Walk two blocks south on Jackson to 46th Ave. Please note that the V train does not run on weekends.
7 to 45 Rd/Courthouse Sq. Exit onto Jackson Ave. Walk one block south to 46th Ave.
G to 21 St/Van Alst. P.S.1 is across the street to the left.
G to Court Sq. Walk south three blocks on Jackson Ave.
From Manhattan
by car
Via Midtown Tunnel. Van Alst exit. Follow 21st St three blocks. P.S.1 is on the right.
Via Queensboro/59th St. bridge. Use the lower level. Take the Queens Boulevard service lane (all the way to the right) when you exit. At Kelly's Furniture Warehouse, turn right on Jackson Ave and follow to 46th Ave.
From Queens / Long Island
LIE (495) West. Exit at Van Dam St ( the last exit before Midtown Tunnel). Turn right on Van Dam and make a left onto Thompson Avenue. From there, turn left onto Jackson Ave. Continue for 3 blocks and P.S.1 is located at 46th Ave and Jackson Ave.
From Brooklyn
BQE North to the McGuiness Blvd exit. Once you exit, veer to the left. Continue over the Pulaski Bridge. At the bottom of the bridge turn right onto Jackson Ave. Continue three blocks. P.S.1 is on your left at 46th Ave and Jackson Ave.
