TALK BY MARILYN MARTIN

Friends of the Durban Art Gallery to present talk by co-curator of Dak’Art on July 8.

Marilyn Martin was one of five African curators responsible for the selection and awards of Dak’Art which celebrated its 20th anniversary from May 7 to June 7 this year.

After 11 years as director of the South African National Gallery in Cape Town, Marilyn Martin was appointed director of Art Collections in May 2001 for Iziko Museums of Cape Town, an amalgamation of government-funded museums. Prior to her career in the museum sector she was senior lecturer in the Department of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand.

She was a member of the National Arts Council from 1997 to 2004 and a trustee of the Arts and Culture Trust from its inception until 2007. Her biographical listings include Who’s Who of Southern Africa and The International Who’s Who of Women. She features in the Mail & Guardian publication, The Book of South African Women.

With a BA (Hons) University of South Africa and an MArch, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Martin has curated exhibitions of South African art in Mali (1994 and 1996), Denmark (1996), France (1997), the USA (2002 & 2003) and for the 2002 São Paulo Bienal. She was co-curator for the exhibition Picasso and Africa, which was held at the Standard Bank Gallery and the Iziko South African National Gallery in 2006. She has served on panels for the Dakar Biennale (2000, 2010), the DaimlerChrysler Awards for visual artists (1999 and 2001) and the DaimlerChrysler Award for Architecture Advisory Board (2006).

Martin was appointed Visiting Professor linked to the Curating The Contemporary Research Group in the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, UK in 2007. Appointed acting leave replacement at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town for the second semester of 2009, in Discourse of Art I, II and III, both administratively and academically; the appointment continues in 2010.

Martin has written numerous articles on art, culture and architecture in academic journals, exhibition catalogues, books, magazines and newspapers. Since December 2008, she has a monthly column in Die Burger and is a regular contributor to Art South Africa. In 2002 she was admitted to the Legion of Honour of the Republic of France at the rank of Officer.

In her talk A Platform for African artists – the 2010 Dakar Biennale for the Friends of the Durban Art Gallery, she will reflect on the organisation, role and value of this African biennial as well as the South African presence.

The talk will take place on July 8 in the 1st Auditorium, Cultural Block, City Hall – entrance in Anton Lembede (formerly Smith) Street at 18h00 for 18h30. Safe and secure parking is available in the Council Cark Park, to book a parking email your name and car registration number to StrettonJ@durban.gov.za Security guards patrol the area.