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Xolani Sithole, Product Owner
 


Bat Centre

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If it’s contemporary African art they’re after – whether of the visual or performing kinds – overseas visitors will be spoilt for choice at Durban’s BAT Centre.

Opened in 1995, the centre is in one of Durban’s most stunning locations; right on the continent’s busiest harbour and a stone’s throw from the bustling heart of downtown. A colourful, eclectic mix of themes, the centre is home to dozens of artists working in a variety of media, their studios welcoming the casual visitor wanting to buy original artwork or simply to chat about art.

On any given day the sounds of musicians or dancers rehearsing, or members of the public learning to drum, fill the air. In the evenings, locals from all walks of life crowd the popular restaurant, bar and deck overlooking giant cargo ships from around the world. Housed in what used to be harbour administration buildings, the BAT Centre’s warren of studios, shops, galleries and restaurants is an ideal, colourful place for visitors to wander at ease while soaking up the many manifestations of South African culture.

On weekends the centre is often jam packed with youngsters enjoying programmes such as Life Check, a celebration of hiphop music and culture attended by over a thousand people. On another weekend similar numbers flock to Throwndown to do breakdancing, pantsula and krumping. On Friday and Saturday evenings, as the sun sets over another balmy Durban evening, a more mature crowd come to hear jazz and maskandi, performed by dozens of bands and performers who get to showcase their talents and earn a living, thanks to the BAT Centre.
 Conference delegates and lovers of poetry attending regular recitals swell the visitor numbers.

Malibongwe Shangase, an artist from the KwaMashu township, specialises in woodcut printing. Like the other artists working at the BAT Centre, Malibongwe enjoys the opportunity the venue gives him to interact with visitors. “You’re working in the public eye,” says the 26-year-old who sells his work at the centre and through various galleries in Durban, “and you’re constantly interacting with other artists. That’s what’s good about the BAT Centre; the artists inspire each other, get ideas from each other.”

Xolani Sithole, the young publicist at the centre, proudly lists just some of the activities going on there at any one time. A poet, Xolani says it was at the BAT Centre that he “found” himself.
“We are an all-go zone,” says Xolani. “We collaborate with everybody; no-one is excluded and everyone is welcome at the BAT Centre. It’s all for the love of Durban.”

Xolani says the centre receives an “endless number” of tourists, many of whom are shopping for unique gifts to take back home. Or for an original memento of an unforgettable holiday.
Because there is simply so much going on at the BAT Centre and because of the need to let the constant stream of visitors know about what it has to offer, the marketing process never stops, says Xolani. TEP, he adds, has assisted the centre with a variety of publicity tools.

Xolani describes the creation of the local tourism cluster as a “big move in the right direction”.

“They are aware of who is coming in to the country, and the co-operation we have through the cluster makes us confident that many tourists will come this way. Working with TEP means more economic empowerment, more work, more gigs, more sales for the artists, all thanks to TEP.”

The centre, Xolani enthuses, is a “real melting pot”. “We’re right at the centre of things. On your left is the sea, on your right is the city. And the arts are at the centre. Art is life and people come here – people from all over the world – to celebrate life.”
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