Marilyn Douala Bell

Marilyn Douala Bell Schaub
Born	1957 Douala, Cameroon
Title	Princess

Marilyn Douala Bell Schaub is a socio-economist, president of the cultural organisation doual'art based in Douala Cameroon.

Life and Work

Marilyn Douala-Bell is born in Cameroon in 1957 in the royal family of Rudolf Duala Manga Bell. She moves to Paris where she accomplish a master in Economy of Development and where she met her husband Didier Schaub. They get married and they move to Douala in 1986^[1]. Since 2000 she has been in charge of urban participatory development policies for the decentralised co-operation of the French Alsace Region; since 1994 she has been collaborating as an international expert in urban and rural development with the Swiss co-operation (DDC), the World Bank (GREA), the European Commission (PPDR-FED) and with the German co-operation (EED, GTZ). From 1995 to 1998 she co-ordinated the programma in Douala tha programme FOURMI of the European Commission. From 1988 to 1993 she has been a delegate and executive manager for the Central Africa Region of APICA-Association pour la Promotion des Initiatives Communautaires Africaines, a pan-African NGO based in Douala. From 1990 to 1991 she produced with APICA, AFVP-Association Française de Volontaire du Progrès, GRET-Groupe de Recherche et d’Echanges Technologiques and with the support of the French co-operation a analysis on negotiations between population, founders and public operators for urban development. In 1991 she co-founded the cultural organisation and contemporary art centre doual'art. In 2007 she created with Didier Schaub the SUD-Salon Urbain de Douala, a triennial festival on public art^[2]. Marilyn Douala Bell has contributed to numerous conferences in particular on independent cultural institutions and on art and urban transformations, among which in 2010 Kenya Workshop organised by the Mondriaan Foundation^[3], Mobile A2K: Resources Interfaces and Contents on Urban Transformation at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center^[4] and Curating in Africa Symposium at the Tate Modern in London^[5] in 2009 Cairo Residency Symposium^[6]; in 2007 "The Issues and Networks of Art during the Post-Contemporary Era^[7].

The work of Marilyn Douala Bell as president of doual'art is well-know internationally. Her work, the work of her husband Didier Schaub, artistic director of doual'art, and of all their team has received the Prince Claus Award in 2010^[8] and it is acknowledged in numerous publications^[9]. In particular Marilyn Douala Bell has achieved to establish an international network around Douala and to produce a significant number of projects and cultural initiatives to experiment new ways of transforming the city^[10].

Publications

• M. Douala Bell and L. Babina (eds.), Douala in Translation. A view of the city and its creative transformative potentials, episode publishers, Rotterdam 2007.
• Lexique du dévéloppement à la base, Editions APICA, 1997.
• La crise structurelle des économies minières africaines: les enseignements des années 70, University of Sussex. Institute of Development Studies, 1984.

Notes

1. ^ Biography provided to the Prince Claus Fund in the occasion of the Prince Claus Award 2010; biography of Marilyn Douala Bell on Africultures
2. ^ http://www.doualart.org
3. ^ http://kenyaworkshop.wordpress.com/participants/
4. ^ Mobile A2K: Resources Interfaces and Contents on Urban Transformation promoted by lettera27 Foundation.
5. ^ Video on the presentation of Marilyn Douala Bell.
6. ^ Cairo Residency Symposium organised by The Townhouse Gallery and the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture.
7. ^ The Issues and Networks of Art during the Post-Contemporary Era promoted by L'appartement 22 based in Rabat Morocco.
8. ^ http://www.princeclausfund.org/en/programmes/awards
9. ^ Abdou Maliqalim Simone, For the city yet to come: changing African life in four cities, Duke University Press, 2004, p. 126; Beautiful Ugly, ed. Sarah Nuttall, Duke University Press, 2006.
10. ^ Iolanda Pensa, Princess in Douala in translation: a view of the city and its creative transformative potentials, eds Marilyn Douala Bell and Lucia Babina, Episode Publisher, Rotterdam 2007

Persondata
Name	Douala Bell Schaub, Marilyn
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1957
Place of birth	Douala, Cameroon
Date of death
Place of death