The ‘other’ Durban exposed in Dirty Linen exhibition

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 ICC 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 opens on Monday, 4 August at 6.30pm at the Warwick Junction Project Centre, 22 Stratford Road, Warwick Junction and 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-a-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.

The exhibitions are open to the public and conference delegates from Monday, 4 August but runs until the 11 August, opening times: 9.30am to 3.30pm untill the 11 August. Secure parking is available and entrance is free

Red Square to Curries Fountain Tour will take place once a day at specific times for a duration of 2,5 hours.

Tour start time(s):

Monday, 4 August- 1.30 to 4pm

Tuesday, 5 August – 11am to 1.30pm

Wednesday, 6 August- 11am to 1.30pm

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).