From the Director's desk
Brendan Bell at his desk
During the first half of this year much attention will focus on the 2010 Soccer World Cup tournament. Our contribution to the event is showing Jabulisa 2010: the art and craft of KwaZulu-Natal when the tournament is being played. This major exhibition of contemporary art and craft from our province will give visitors a very good idea of the breadth and excitement of what is being produced in this part of South Africa. All artists and crafters are reminded that submission of works for selection will take place at the Gallery on 30 and 31 January 2010. Further details about submissions and rules of entry can be found elsewhere in this Outline. Please don't miss out on the opportunity to be selected for this landmark show.
This year we celebrate the fact that the Gallery has been located in the Old Supreme Court Building for twenty years. A great deal of time and money has been spent over the years in maintaining the exterior and interior of the building. In this financial year all carpeting has been replaced and a major refurbishment of the climate control system has been undertaken. The work of the Gallery in creating a centre of museological excellence continues, as does its efforts to expand its audiences. We can all be proud of what the City's cultural asset has achieved.
Further cause for celebration is the long-awaited publication. The first volume of the history of the Gallery collection will be launched on 23 April. It covers the period from 1903 when Mrs Ada Tatham set about gathering contributions for the purchase of artworks, to July 1974, the end of Valerie Leigh's tenure as Curator. The book provides a wealth of information about how and why the collection grew from a small number of Victorian paintings to a collection of European and South African art based in the European tradition. This is an important springboard for understanding later developments in the Gallery's acquisitions policy, and provides a basis for appreciating the unique qualities of a national heritage treasure. The story begins with the rationalisation of the collection in the early 1960s, before moving chronologically from 1903. One of its major themes is warning against too hasty consideration of pruning works from an art museum collection. The unifying idea is that each work in a collection tells a story about its maker, itself, its previous owners and its relation to other works in the collection. This is what makes a collection unique.
Growing the Gallery collection is a fascinating story, as much about the works as about the personalities who were involved in building it - or trying to interfere with its growth! The book is fully referenced and includes a comprehensive bibliography, but it is not an academic tome. We have tried to make it accessible to all readers, as well as beautiful to look at and comfortable to hold. The book is printed in full colour and we have illustrated as many of the artworks as possible. Available funding has limited our print run to 500 copies, so if you are interested in buying a copy please order now. Pre-publication brochures are included with the posting of this Outline, or visit our website at www.tatham.org.za. Funds generated from sales of this book will go towards producing the next volume.
And finally we extend a warm welcome to Pinky Madlabane-Nkabinde, our newly appointed Education Officer. Pinky graduated from the University of Durban-Westville with a BA Fine Arts degree in 1999 and has an Abet Certificate in Project Management from UNISA. She is currently doing a National Certificate in Film and TV Production with Movietech College in Durban. After graduating she worked with the Tatham and Durban Art Galleries on art education projects. She taught Art and History of Art for five years at Ekudubekeni High School in Ulundi, and from 2007 she worked for the Department of Arts and Culture as Principal Cultural Officer deployed at Sisonke District. Pinky is married to Mlungisi Nkabinde and the couple have two young children.
Brendan Bell