The Team

Jack Ginsberg Jack has been collecting books all his life and during the last forty years, has created an internationally renowned collection of artists' books. Jack's passion for and knowledge of the book-arts field has made him internationally known and respected. His collection, unique on the African continent, is visited by artists, scholars and bibliophiles from all over the world. His knowledge, passion and collection constitute the heart of this website, the exhibitions held in this country as well as the impetus for on-going research into the artist's book in South Africa. Jack is also a founding patron of The Ampersand Foundation (TAF) which supports South African artists and those working in the visual arts to spend time on residency in New York. Jack is the recipient of the Business Day BASA Art Champion Award 2013 and the 2014 Inyathelo Award for Philanthropy in the Arts. In 2018, Jack donated his collections of artists' books and books on the subject to WAM and facilitated the establishment of the Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts (JGCBA) which opened in 2019.
Ciara Struwig Ciara is a Joburg-based creative, researcher and aspiring Jack-of-all-trades. She completed her Masters in Visual Arts and has worked broadly in the arts and education sectors at secondary and tertiary level. She has produced several exhibitions and projects, managing artists productions, and realising large scale public art and design installations. In 2023, Ciara was appointed Assistant Special Collections Librarian at the JGCBA.
David Paton David is an Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Art, University of Johannesburg and a Senior Researcher at the JGCBA from Jan 2023 to December 2025. In 2000, he completed a master's degree entitled: South African Artists' Books and Book-objects since 1960, and in 2019 he completed his PhD at the University of Sunderland, UK with a thesis titled Booknesses: Framing Book Arts Theorisation, Curation, Documentation and Practice Within a South African Context. He and Jack curated the first exhibition of artists' books held in South Africa titled: Artists' Books From the Ginsberg Collection held at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 1996. More recently, in 2017, David curated the Booknesses: Artists Books in the Jack Ginsberg Collection exhibition and international conference at the University of Johannesburg. In 2019 he curated Samplings: South African Artists' Books at the Wits Art Museum in celebration of the opening on the Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts.
Peter Dennis In 1997 Peter established Logos Flow developing software and website solutions. Peter is the webmaster and designer whose unique software powers the databases and general navigation of this website. In March 2021, Logos Flow (Pty) Ltd expanded its operations began trading as a registered company.
In memory Rosalind Cleaver Ros was appointed Special Collections Librarian at the JGCBA from July 2019 until her passing in December 2024. Ros was responsible for organising the 14500 items on the shelves and categorising them for access on the database. She also curated a number of important exhibitions of bookwork during her time at the Centre. In many ways Ros was the heartbeat of the JGCBA and her passing leaves an indelible trace and she is sorely missed.

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