ON FORM HONOURS MARTIN BURNETT

On Form is a collective exhibition to honour the work and life of Durban artist Martin Burnett who died in January. It will run at The Collective from May 7.

The KZN visual arts community has rallied together to create the works for this exhibition to pay tribute to this popular artist, teacher and collector. Burnett was known for finding interesting objects - “treasures that the city had discarded,” as fellow artist Dee Donaldson called them - with the intention of transforming them into art. He had collected 30 paper machè mannequin busts which 30 KZN artists will re-interpret, decorate and re-imagine. These busts will form a major part of the exhibition.

Complementing the busts will be works by Burnett, and works for and of Burnett – including Jackie Freer's painting of the artist from the artSPACE Inspiration 2 Exhibition.

Born in Johannesburg in 1946, Burnett lived in Durban since 1970.He obtained a Higher Diploma in education from Technikon Natal (currently Durban University of Technology) and prior to that did window dressing and interior decorating. He lectured and taught at a number of schools and different tertiary institutions such as DUT, University of Natal, ML Sultan Technikon, the BAT Centre and, lastly, Nanda Soobben’s Centre for Fine Art, Animation and Design (CFAD).

Burnett stood in solidarity with women in abusive relationships and supported initiatives which assisted abused women and children. To this end, the exhibition will be a fund raiser for two important organisations: the KZN Network of Violence Against Women which facilitates training for several small organisations in KZN. They address abuse against women, domestic violence, date rape, corrective rape, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, child molestation and many other social ills.

The second beneficiary is Diakonia Council of Church’s Thursdays in Black campaign which encourages people to wear black every Thursday – to create ongoing awareness about the international injustices against voiceless women and children.

On Form runs from May 7 at The Collective, 48b Florida Road, Durban. More information from Amy-Jo Windt, curator of the COLLECTIVE Gallery on 031 303 4891 or 082 711 4465