CHRIS THURMAN: Pictures of Bra Hugh, a folk musician with jazz chops
‘Hugh Masekela: Home Is Where The Music Is’ is an exhibition at the Art & About pop-up gallery in the Rand Merchant Bank precinct
Mabusha Masekela knows a thing or two about the iconography of his uncle Hugh. He grew up surrounded by artists, activists and cool cats, either side of the Atlantic, and he saw first-hand how Hugh Masekela became the world’s most photographed trumpet player. Heck, young Mabusha even appeared with his uncle on a couple of album covers (The Promise of a Future in 1968 and Home in 1982). Nowadays, as adviser to the board of the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation, he engages with the image — and the imagery — of Bra Hugh daily.
When we spoke at a recent media event for Hugh Masekela: Home Is Where The Music Is, an exhibition of art and memorabilia, dozens of pictures of his uncle adorned the walls. Yet our conversation was not primarily about this instantly recognisable, globally renowned figure. It was about the communities that formed him, and those that he formed in turn: close local cohorts and dispersed global networks connected by artistic and political solidarity...
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