BAT Centre, Durban

Durban BAT Centre, Harbour front – “We built it to last!” That is what the legends say when it comes to their youth culture. The BAT Centre (also known as Emtateni), located along the Durban Harbour, is an art development and community centre with art studios, exhibition galleries, music practice rooms, a dance studio, resource … Read more

BAT Centre Walls Get A Face Lift

 By: Themba Khumalo

The BAT centre is now sporting a new look thanks to nine volunteer artists from Durban along with the help of a renowned German artist. The eThekwini Municipality and the BAT Centre officially unveiled the new BAT Mural recently, which has been completed as a project between the Sister Cities of Bremen and Durban. City’s Head of International and Governance Relations Eric Apelgren said “Contact between these cities is particularly strong with co-operation ranging from sport, eco-tourism, climate change and arts and culture, amongst others. This year also marks the 17th anniversary of the existence of the BAT Centre so a project was developed to give the BAT a new and fresh face” he said.

He said arts and culture are tools that bring people together: “The idea of the mural was to allow people from different cultures to work together to develop common symbols representing what BAT stands for.”

Mural artist Edeltraut Rath from German’s city of Bremen spent a month in Durban working with 9 artists from the BAT centre. She said symbols, icons, patterns, emblems and letters to depict the activities of the BAT Centre were used to create the mural.

“The artists created and used stencils so that the artworks merged with no art style dominating another. The Zulu symbols merge with other signs in a modern artistic style. The artists worked with a limited palette: blue black, magenta, pink, sky blue, orange, and turquoise making the facade a bright, vibrant and informative new addition to the port of Durban’s skyline” said Edeltraut .

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