Staff

The Arterial Network has a diverse staff compliment. Below are the people who are currently working for the organisation.

  • PETER RORVIK • SECRETARY GENERAL

    Rorvik was appointed Secretary-General of Arterial Network at the beginning of 2013. As director of the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) from 1999 to 2012 Rorvik headed the development of its annual festivals - Durban International Film Festival, Time of the Writer, Jomba! Contemporary Dance Experience, and Poetry Africa. Rorvik was also founder Steering Committee member of the Durban FilmMart.

    His experience includes strategic Pan-African and international cooperation in the cultural sectors, capacity-building, audience development initiatives and advocacy programmes.

  • MAGGIE OTIENO • EAST AFRICA REGIONAL SECRETARY

    Maggie Otieno supports development and sustainability of Arterial Network’s national chapter in Kenya and the East Africa Region. She is a graduate of Art and Design and Human Resource and Marketing. She has been active in the field of Art and Culture for 17 years as a sculptor and 7 years as an arts administrator and manager. In 2010 she was nominated as one of "20 most influential Africans" for her work in art management and promotion of contemporary Africa Art.

  • DOUNIA BENSLIMANE • NORTH AFRICA REGIONAL SECRETARY

    Dounia Benslimane, born in Casablanca the 5th February 1977, medical doctor, worked for 8 years in the pharmaceutical and medical industry. Then, switched to arts and culture sector in October 2011 as general manager of "La Fondation des Arts Vivants" (theatre association). Coordinator of "La Fabrique Culturelle des anciens abattoirs de Casablanca" since September 2011. Co-founder and former treasurer of Racines - association for cultural development in Morocco and Africa (www.racines.ma) and AN National Chapter in Morocco since 2010. Member of the Arterial Network (since 2010). Worked as coordinator/project manager on several projects: Artwatch Africa, African Festival Network, Freedom of Conscience in Morocco... Member of Casamemoire (since 2008) - association for the protection of the modern architectural heritage - and its treasurer (2010-2012). 

  • VALMONT LAYNE • SOUTHERN AFRICA REGIONAL SECRETARY

    Valmont Layne is a musician, curator, activist and arts administrator from Cape Town, South Africa. He completed a Masters Degree (MA) in History at the University of Cape Town focusing on jazz, social dance and vernacular music in the Western Cape. He spent ten years at the District Six Museum in Cape Town where he established the Audio-visual Research Archives and its collections of music and oral histories from the Cape – focusing on the music and culture of District Six and the inner cityHe has also been a Fellow at the Centre for Public Scholarship at Emory University. Valmont participated in a range of international museum, heritage and human rights Programmes such as the Swedish African Museum Programme and the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience. 

  • OUMAR SALL • WEST AFRICAN REGIONAL SECRETARY

    A writer and critic, Oumar Sall's interest lies in day-to-day sound and visual aesthetics, which nourish his projects. The mobility of his subjects within diverse spaces of definition and construction of the being lie at the heart of his work, which oscillates between writing, communications, audiovisual and amateur photography. Oumar lives and work in Dakar where he founded the Groupe 30 Afrique. He is also a founding member of ADAFEST (Association des Diffiseurs Artistiques et Festivals du Senegal) which serves as Arterial Network National Chapter in Senegal. 

  • MUSONDA CHIMBA • GENERAL MANAGER

    Musonda holds a Master’s degree in Music from the University of KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa. An accredited Prince 2 Project Manager, Musonda previously coordinated the MTN BUSHFIRE Festival, Swaziland’s loved International Festival of the Arts. Prior to that, She worked for  the Durban Film Office, Economic Development Unit of the City of Durban as a member of the founder Steering Committee and project coordinator of the Durban FilmMart (DFM) at the Durban International Film Festival, a film finance and co-production market. Musonda also coordinated the Producers Lab, an incubation programme for Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME’s) in the film sector and the music development strategy of the City of Durban, responsible for the organizational development of the KwaZulu-Natal Music Industry Association (KUMISA). She is a member of the South African Society for Research In Music (SASRIM) and has twice served on the board of SASRIM.

  • ESPERA G. DONOUVOSSI • PROJECTS MANAGER: NATIONAL CHAPTERS

    Espera Donouvossi, a Benin-born arts journalist, is the Projects Manager: National chapters for Arterial Network. He is a graduate of Linguistics and Communication (French) and International Relations from University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin. He went to South Africa in 2008 to study English Applied Communicative Skills after which he worked as a research assistant and translator for the Consultancy Creativity Arts and Jobs (CAJ) in Johannesburg headed by Avril Joffe-Hunter, an expert in the African Creative Economy and Cultural Policy.

    He undertakes various project management duties, as well as a variety of general functions particularly in support of the development and sustainability of Arterial Network’s national chapters. 

  • DIANA RAMAROHETRA • PROJECT MANAGER ARTWATCH AFRICA

    Diana is the former Secretary General of the Institut Français of Rwanda. She owns a degree in Communications and Journalism from her home country, Madagascar, and a Masters in Cultural Management,Culture and Media, from the University of la Francophonie (Egypt). She was a cultural journalist for five years and the Managing Editor of a Rwandan magazine called “The Service Mag.” She assisted in the coordination of the panafrican dance festival FESPAD in 2010 and has directed a number of short films with the association she created called “TwAnora."

  • MINERVA DRAEGER- SUSTAINABILITY MANAGER •

    Minerva has had extensive experience working in arts management and fundraising. She has held senior management roles with both small and major non-profit arts organisations and worked across a broad range of sectors in fundraising including corporate, philanthropic, government, health, education, legal, youth and community sectors. Working in the arts sector for over 10 years, Minerva has supported the delivery of high quality artistic programs to audiences of thousands and delivered programs in fields such as arts education, projects for youth and community arts practice to participants in both urban and rural settings. She has also held executive positions within peak body organisations to advocate, strengthen and champion the arts which is central to her work within the arts landscape. She holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Arts and Entertainment Management from Deakin University.

  • NADIA NKWAYA RESEARCH MANAGER •

    Nadia holds a Master level degree in International Relations and a Master in Project Management for Development. Her areas of expertise are regional integration and performing arts in the African Great Lakes region with interests in cultural diplomacy, African Cultural heritage, its preservation, recognition and also the relation between culture, economy and peace building. Her main role is to maintain and build Arterial Network database, directory and research so as to broaden the reach, effectiveness and knowledge base of the Network. 

  • JEANNE HEFEZ COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER •

    Jeanne holds a double Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in Political Science and International Studies. Originally from France, she moved to South Africa after her studies to do research in international political economy. Before joining the Arterial Network, she was the Managing Editor of Amandla! Magazine for two years, a progressive South African publication that deals with social justice issues. She has extensive experience in media and developmental work and has worked closely with grassroot organizations and social movements in West Africa and Latin America. 

  • TELESPHORE MBA BIZO • CENTRAL AFRICA: REGIONAL SECRETARY

    Telesphore Mba Bizo is a journalist at the Cameroonian Radio Television. He was on the Arterial Network Steering Committee from 2009 to 2013. A human rights activist, he coordinated the Legal Assistance Centre for Citizen Action and worked at Transparency International from 2010 to 2013. Télesphore was a communications consultant to Sightsavers to document the participation of disabled people in the 2011 presidential election. An art critic, he has served on the juries of international film festivals.