BAT History & Milestones.
The BAT Centre has its roots in the Bartel Arts Trust, which was started in 1992 from a legacy left by the eccentric Hugo Bartel. Bartel, an Austrian entrepreneur and adventurer, arrived in South Africa in 1956 after having traveled from Tunisia by car. By the time he passed away in 1992 he had amassed a small fortune through a successful electrical engineering business and by dabbling in the stock market. He bequeathed a sum a money in his will to establish an arts trust and appointed two trustees to see his dream through - Paul Mikula, a renowned Durban architect and Dick Breytenbach, a senior partner at Shepstone and Wylie.
A research project was commissioned by the trust in 1993, to establish the best usage for the funds available. The focus of this study was to identify the primary needs of the artistic community of the greater Durban. The research revealed that these were easy access to space, infrastructure and equipment and access to an audience. The trustees then decided to establish a multi-purpose centre for the arts and in June of 1994, a tender was submitted to the National Ports Authority for the ex navy building in the small craft harbour - the SAS Inkonkoni building. The lease was officially signed on the 1st January 1995 and so the BAT Centre was born. The Bartel Arts Trust was involved with the BAT Centre until 2000. The centre then formed a trust of its own, the BAT Centre Trust, which is now responsible for the continued operations of the centre.
In the decade of its existence the BAT Centre has had a major impact on the cultural life of the people of Durban. Countless local and international musicians have graced the stages at the BAT and the centre has hosted a number of music festivals. The Artists in Action Residency Programme has been operational since 2001 and has produced tangible results. Several cultural evenings, related to some of the international conferences hosted in Durban, have been held at the BAT Centre and the centre has gained the reputation as an excellent vehicle for showcasing new talent and creating much needed employment for artists and musicians. The centre has hosted a variety of other events, from fashion shows and drumming evenings to spoken word festivals and workshops. The BAT Centre can be considered to be a truly unique venue and destination. However, in the interests of continued improvement, the centre has devised a strategic marketing plan for 2005
