Pauline Burmann

Pauline Burmann is an art historian, consultant and chair of the Thami Mnyele Fondation, named after the late South African artist and activist. Established in 1992, the Thami Mnyele Foundation aims to foster cultural exchange between artists from Africa, the Netherlands and Amsterdam in particular.

The foundation runs a three-month residency program, open to African artists practicing in a broad range of disciplines including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, video, film, audio and multi media. The residency is hosted at the Thami Mnyele Foundation studio, located in an old school building in the centre of Amsterdam, providing an ideal environment for creativity, reflection, research and discussion.

After focusing on South African artists, among whom David Koloane and Mustafa Maluka, the Thami Mnyele Foundation opened its residency programme to the whole African continent. Current residents are Hadia Gana (Lybia) and Samson Kambalu (Malawi). Past residents include Dominique Zinkpè (Benin), Nicholas Hlobo (South Africa), Meschac Gaba (Benin) and Ina van Zyl (South Africa).