QUIJOMBO!, Celebration of Afro-Dominican Culture

QUIJOMBO!, Celebration of Afro-Dominican Culture

Festival Will Feature Performing Groups on United Nations List of“Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” To be Held at Hostos Center for the Arts Oct 4-8, 2007

Bronx, NY, Spt 12 – The Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture and Alianza Dominicana will present ¡QUIJOMBO!, a celebration of Afro-Dominican Culture, from October 3—7 which will include five days of concerts, exhibitions, a crafts fair, workshops and a block party and jam at High Bridge Park in Manhattan.

The festival will focus on three of the Dominican Republic’s most fascinating traditions: the Cocolo culture in and around the city of San Pedro de Macoris and the Congo and Salve traditions in and around the village of Mata los Indios, Villa Mella.

The Cocolos are the descendants of sugar plantation workers imported from the Anglophone Caribbean in the early 20th century. The Congos are the direct descendants of the first slaves brought to Hispaniola by Spanish colonizers over three centuries ago. Many are the descendants of the first runaway slaves. Salves are musical supplications entreating saints to intercede on the behalf of believers.

These are living, breathing and growing expressions of Dominicans in their homeland and in the United States, and the producers of Quijombo are proud to feature the three greatest exponents of the traditions: Teatro Danzante Guloya de San Pedro de Macoris, La Cofradía del Espíritu Santo de los Congos de Villa Mella and El Grupo de Salves de Mata los Indios.

Their proud dignity is a source of inspiration to all who advocate cultural diversity and celebrate cultural tenacity. Indeed the Guloyas and the Congos have been named to UNESCO’s list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, a designation reserved for communities worthy of special note, protection and nurturing.

A complete program of ¡QUIJOMBO! events is listed below.

Stunning hi-res photographs available upon request.

¡QUIJOMBO! has been supported by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the National Endowment for the Arts; and a generous grant from the New York State Music Fund established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Foundation Advisors. Additional funding has been provided by JPMorganChase and Consolidated Edison Company. Special support has also been provided by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.