Media Invite by Leonard Rosenberg, DUT Campus Planner and co-ordinator of the ROCS research project The Durban University of Technology’s Research of Curries and Surrounds (ROCS) Project is hosting two fringe events for the International Union of Architects World Congress of Architects, UIA 2014 Durban, which will be held at the International Convention Centre from 4 to 7 August 2014.
The ROCS project is showcasing two events that deal with the urban history of Durban as a city, particularly the Black, urban history and the untold story of the city’s role in racial segregation for more than a 100 years, from the 1870s to the 1980s. The exhibition titled Dirty Linen, ‘Other’ Durban will “air” the shameful past of the the former Durban City Council, when it established a workers compound (Magazine Barracks, Railway Barracks and Somtseu Road Hostel) and engineered a ‘dual town’ which became the ‘non- European’ CBD (Grey Street and the Warwick Junction area). The “dirty linen” theme is also explored by displaying the images on cloth to resemble washing on a line.
The exhibition is aimed at UIA 2014 Durban conference delegates, as well as Durban residents and students who can learn about Durban’s history and how the city was shaped over the last 100 years. Schools are also encouraged to attend, particularly the schools that are based in the precinct.
The venue for the exhibition is also appropriate because the ‘dirty linen’ will be displayed in an old building that is close on 100 years old in Warwick Avenue. The building was used as a laundry and is one of the few buildings that has survived the Group Areas Act and the destruction of the Warwick Avenue Triangle. Now called the Warwick Junction Project Centre, the building was refurbished in the 1990s.
The second project for the congress is a tour called ‘Red Square to Curries Fountain.’ This will be a two and half hour walking tour, to get delegates to understand the socio-political and spatial history of this “other” town.
The guest speaker at the exhibition opening on the 4th August is Dr Sayed Iqbal Mohamed, Chairperson of the Organisation of Civic Rights (OCR), who was heavily involved with the Durban Central Ratepayers Association (DCRA) and who successfully stopped evictions in the mid 1980s. In 1985, Dr Mohamed became OCR’s Director when his co-partner Billy Nair left to pursue a career in politics.
Details of the events:
Open to the public and conference delegates:
Exhibition details
Date: Opening on Monday, 4 August 2014 but runs until the 11 August
Time: 18h30
Venue: Warwick Junction Project Centre, 22 Stratford Road, Warwick Junction (behind Cambridge Foods) Guest Speaker: Dr Sayed Iqbal Mohamed Opening times: 09h30 to 15h30 untill the 11 August 2014 Secure parking. Entrance is free
Red Square to Curries Fountain Tour
The tour will take place once a day at specific times
Duration: 2,5 hours
Tour start time(s): Monday, 4 August- 13h30 to 16h00
: Tuesday, 5 August – 11h00 to 13h30
: Wednesday, 6 August- 11h00 to 13h30
Booking is essential and must be booked at Turners at the ICC
Tour departure point: Outside entrance to the Grey Street Mosque on Yusuf Dadoo Street (formerly known as Grey Street).
Pictured: The police arrest and remove Native women demonstrators from the Victoria Street Beerhall, 18 June 1959.
