EULOGY for Brendan Bell - Dr Louise Hall.

I agree with you, Bryony Clark should be speaking and not me - but she felt too close to Brendan to be able to hold steady and speak about someone with whom she worked for 26 years – someone we have all known, respected and loved. That said, I am honoured to stand in her stead.

I have just started reading Niall Williams’ novel History of the Rain. The book starts with Williams saying, as many do, that “We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or keep alive those who only live now in the telling”.

So I have been given the task today is to tell some stories about Brendan. These stories are tributes from a variety of people who knew Brendan professionally. To remain true to the storytellers I will read two of the tributes and a few excerpts of others, verbatim. I will make very brief reference to his CV. I won’t read his CV like a spreadsheet. Even the most impressive CV’s read like a spreadsheet might, to borrow from the Irish poet and philosopher, John o Donohue, “. . . put cornflakes to sleep” in the reading.

Brendan’s expertise and experience spanned curatorship, museology, research, writing, education and artistic practice.

He matriculated from Thomas More in Kloof, Completed a BAFA, (Bachelor of Fine Art), HDE and MA through Natal University Pietermaritzburg. 

Before assuming the position of Director of the Tatham Art Gallery in 1992, Brendan’s experience as an educator, included teaching Art and English at secondary school level and he served as education officer at the Johannesburg Art Gallery and the Tatham Art Gallery.

Brendan had a long association with SAMA - South African Museums Association - since 1985, serving as KwaZulu-Natal Vice-Chair, and later as National Executive. More broadly, he was Chair of the Midlands Museums Forum and The Natal Arts Trust and served on the Transitional Regional Arts and Culture Council and the Launch Committee, KwaZulu-Natal Midlands Interim Arts and Culture Council.

All the tributes I have received speak about Brendan with great respect. All express having valued working with him and recognise the synthesis of his multifaceted professional expertise with his humanistic sensibility.

The following are excerpts from tributes:

 Ian Calder

 “. . .Brendan gifted the museum with his rare dual talents as a sensitive artist-practitioner himself, as well as a professional curator. Brendan brought his extraordinary aesthetic insight and visionary belief about conserving and showing the works of contemporary Pietermaritzburg and KZN artists and craftspersons for the enjoyment, creative inspiration and cultural education of our local communities”.

Vivienne Garside – ex Vukani museum Eshowe

“. . .As a newcomer to the world of art, I learned so much from Brendan and will always be grateful for his generosity of time and knowledge. He never made me feel anything but a respected colleague . . .And always the humour and the chuckle”.

Kobie Venter

“I really enjoyed working with Brendan for about 20 years, even if he called me ‘Ouma’. 

At heart he was a writer and researcher, and taught me much about gathering historical data, verifying facts and planning in detail.  He treated each work of art with respect.  My greatest moment was when he sent me to Scotland for a project which he could well have taken on himself.  Once or twice, he even told me: Ouma, you know we love you ….

I will miss him”.

Kobie

Thulani Makhaye

“. . .I think he is at peace, and the family should find solace in knowing he was more than a husband, father and boss.  He could see through a person’s soul and their abilities, and help channel/guide that strength, talent/gift, for the person to gain an understanding of the strength they have, and build their confidence with enough push/nudging,  but with utmost care.  He was someone who understood the fragility of each person he interacted with”. 

Siyabonga Sikosana

“. . .When I heard that Brendon was sick, in my mind I thought about the walls of Tatham Art Gallery, and the smell of coffee at the coffee shop, the melody of the piano being played by Christopher. … One day I came to the Gallery to collect my painting of Dambuza Clinic. I looked through the glass of the Door. I saw Bryony and Brendon looking at the painting. I thought they will shout at me. . . But he [Brendan] hugged me … and with a broad smile said, ‘Siya We love your painting...it must be part of our collection.’”

Atkins Nyakane - a colleague in the Tatham business unit

“. . .this man really loves his job. I remember the days when he fought so hard in Council meetings for the existence of the Tatham Art Gallery, we have really lost one of those people who loved the City”.

Robert Brusse

“We will remember him as a dear friend, a traveling companion of many wonderful journeys, and expeditions, a remarkable professional where only perfection was good enough, and a man who brought so many divergent peoples and philosophies together”.

And now, two longer tributes. Each reveals a fuller picture of Brendan’s role as Director of The Tatham Art Gallery.

Terence King 

Brendan Bell, Director – a tribute 

“In the conclusion to his monumental first volume on the history of the Tatham Art Gallery, Brendan Bell reminds us that: “The challenge is to use the collection through innovative, interactive displays and education programmes so that it remains a relevant, enjoyable and valuable cultural-heritage resource.” His custodianship of this resource over more than a quarter of a century wholly realised that aim.

On his appointment as Director in 1992 Brendan was not unfamiliar with the holdings, having previously been the Gallery’s first education officer, working from rooms in the City Hall. Soon after his assumption of office as Director, Brendan set about finalising the process of establishing a Board of Trustees, to replace an Advisory Committee, thereby ensuring democratic and inclusive oversight of the Gallery’s operations. From the outset this approach was to characterise his Directorship; a governance model which was accommodating of a range of views, forward-looking and informed by progressive models of museological practice.

Brendan’s postgraduate studies in Art History were to stand him in good stead in the presentation of displays which drew on his deep knowledge of the historic side of the collection as well as his understanding of artistic developments in a complex postmodern environment. In this regard, perhaps his most enduring contribution was to shepherd the acquisitions policy of the Gallery toward one in which a fuller spectrum of visual culture was adequately represented. The rapidly moving boundaries of artistic practice are evident in the incorporation of exemplars of videographic, design, craft, installation and performance works alongside traditional practices of painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing in temporary and permanent exhibitions. The diversity of works in the collection is matched by an equally diverse range of practitioners represented, reflecting the best of regional, national and international art production.

Although not a particularly large gallery, the Tatham is respected in South Africa and elsewhere as an institution which conforms to high standards of conservation, display and education, in accordance with international best practice, an indication of Brendan’s willingness to engage with other galleries, museums and educational institutions to exchange views and artworks, modify practices where appropriate and maintain an edge of contemporaneity.

Having to deal on a daily basis with artistic temperaments can be trying. Brendan was able to handle inevitable moments of tension and conflicting viewpoints constructively and sensitively; his manner was calm yet underpinned by a determination to carry projects through. The position of Director is multi-faceted -- its range includes fostering relationships, placating feisty municipal officialdom, keeping meticulous records, obtaining funds for repairs and equipment, and advocating for the arts in sometimes unsympathetic forums, tasks which Brendan carried out with commitment and dedication.

Sartorially adventurous, reasoned and informed in debate, easy in demeanour, Brendan’s tenure as Director set a high bar”.

The second tribute is a letter from Bryony Clark written to Brendan in November 2021:

“Dear Brendan

I have realised recently that many things are thought about people, or are said about people, but they are not often said to the person who really matters.  So that is the reason for this letter. 

Since you left the Gallery, I have become more and more aware of the great debt of gratitude that I owe you – for a number of reasons. 

For 26 years you shielded me from the chaos, and the bureaucracy of the Municipality.  This enabled me to get on and do what I really enjoyed - organising what happened here, and as you so often said – being the mess monitor.   You gave me the freedom to run with ideas and to make things happen, without having to deal with the endless Municipal admin.  You left me largely to my own devices, but you were always there to discuss issues and to offer your calm and sensible opinion and guidance.  You enabled me to go off for weeks at a time – to study ceramic conservation, to England and to India.  At the time I didn’t realise how lucky I was, but I do now, and I really miss having someone to bounce ideas off, and to formulate strategies with.  I am always quite amazed that we were able to work together for so long without knocking heads more often than the couple of times that we did.   Thank you for the role you played in making that happen. 

I have also become more and more aware of the incredible value of the numerous publications that you were responsible for initiating and writing.  At the time of publication I was too busy with detail and proof reading and meeting production deadlines, to process the full extent of the contribution that those publications and catalogues have made to South African art historical research.  Thank you for hiding in your office and ensuring that the Gallery continued to contribute to research in such a meaningful way.  We regularly use many of the Gallery publications for research queries and always feel a great sense of pride.      

Pietermaritzburg has a cultural gem that we continue to be so proud of . . . Today, the Gallery stands as a tribute to you, and your vision and ability to navigate the advent of the democratic dispensation.  All credit goes to you for standing your ground on so many occasions, and for insisting that we do things properly.   I know that it was highly stressful and that there was little acknowledgment at the time, but you steered this organisation through the choppy waters and we are now able to take that forward.  As a staff we cherish the legacy Lorna Ferguson handed down to you and to me, and we hope that we continue to honour you by upholding the standards and the vision that you instilled in us. 

Thank you Brendan, for a job well done, and for adding value to our lives, and to our society.

I feel a great sense of sadness that you have not been able to fully enjoy your retirement, but hope that you are comforted by the fact that your contribution to Heritage and to creating a world class art museum in old Sleepy Hollow, has not gone unnoticed.   

With love and thanks for your support and guidance. 

Bryony xx”

It is a great sadness that Brendan didn’t get to relish his retirement. He once said to Lizzie, his daughter,

May you paint the skies with your

artistic flair 

and knit on clouds until

your heart can’t bare

I hope you might join me in wishing that this is what Brendan is up to now. I could have sworn there was a skein of wool dangling outside in the parking lot. Or perhaps he is spinning his own yarns. I mean that in the nicest possible way. All with, as Viv Garside says, “. . .the humour and the chuckle”.   

Thank you, Brendan for your expansive and visionary thinking and highly professional contributions to the Tatham Art Gallery and to the broader Art and Museum community. We miss you. Hambe Kahle.

And finally Brendan’s art works are on display in the Tatham Art Gallery foyer. And there is a tribute book at the back of the church after the service - if anyone wants to write in it. Alternatively you can email Bryony, or write in the tribute book which will be at the Gallery for the next three weeks. 

Thank you

Louise Hall

Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Tatham Art Gallery