By Jim Elmslie
Image caption: David Said at the OAS Tribal Art Fair in Paddington. Image: Jerry Liew.
Founding Newsletter editor for the Oceanic Art Society, David Said was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1945, the start of a long and interesting life enriched by his love of tribal people, their cultures and their artworks. Growing up in apartheid South Africa David engaged with the cultures around him, travelling on safari to Zimbabwe and Kenya. He developed a love for African tribal art from a young age, particularly beadwork, shields and Zulu pieces. Later, on moving to Australia he was exposed to Oceanic tribal art for the first time and also fell in love with it immediately, especially canoe prows, masks and shields.
David arrived in Australia in 1976 aged 31 and well established in the advertising industry, having had his own advertising agency, Goodgoll Said, in Johannesburg. In Australia he worked for a number of international agencies: Berry Curry; Doyle Dane Burbach and Grey Advertising. He climbed through the ranks and was appointed Creative Director for Singleton Advertising and McSpedden Carey.
From the time he moved to Australia David began to acquire his own collection of Oceanic art and established a low-key gallery at his home-office in Queen Street, Woollahra. This business evolved over the years and by 2004 was Tribal Art Brokers, which operated onsite and online. David travelled widely in the region and made a number of collecting trips to Vanuatu, across Polynesia and various parts of Indonesia, including Borneo. While never having the opportunity to travel to Papua New Guinea, David collected many pieces from this exotic country and became very knowledgeable across a wide range of fields.
This knowledge, and David’s considerable literary skills, were put to the test in January 1997 when he became the editor of the Oceanic Art Society (then of Sydney) Newsletter. David had been a founding member of the Society in 1996 and volunteered for the role of editor when the Newsletter was created and continued in this role until September 2012. As a former OAS Journal editor myself I know that this seemingly straightforward job can become onerous and time consuming. Nevertheless, David persevered and was instrumental in establishing the Newsletter, and later the Journal, as an integral part of the Oceanic Art Society. Many significant articles were published under David’s editorship, which really did contribute to “furthering the appreciation understanding of Oceanic art” – the mission statement of the OAS.
Besides the sometimes drudge of being the OAS editor there were also occasional perks. David was a fixture at many OAS events and being editor did give him the opportunity to approach anyone. One such encounter in 2006 was at Te Papa in Wellington, New Zealand, where David, as an editor VIP was given a special behind-the-scenes tour of the museum – an experience he enjoyed so much that the ‘tour’ lasted two or three days.
David will be missed, amongst many things, for his ready smile, his knowledgeable insight on many things Oceanic and his years of hard work nurturing the OAS Newsletter, which allowed it to evolve into its current lavish form as a high quality journal catering to an international membership base.
David is survived by his two daughters, Gaby and Aimee.