Mandela - leader, comrade, negotiator, prisoner, statesman shows Madiba as the world icon and as an ordinary man. It looks at his strengths and unifying greatness, but also contemplates his weaknesses.
IT was a hot summer day outside, but I had goose bumps: I'd walked into the Nelson Mandela exhibition at the Apartheid Museum, and stood mesmerised by images of him from the moment he left prison.
Madiba truly is the world's hero, and although at 90 he is very frail now, he still engenders feelings of affection and patriotism.
The exhibition displays hundreds of images of the great man
The exhibition, called Mandela - leader, comrade, negotiator, prisoner, statesman, opened in November and will run until November 2009, says the marketing manager of the museum, Noelene Bhyat.
At the opening, the director of the museum, Christopher Till, said: "The exhibition attempts to breathe fresh life into a story that has been well told in countless books, documentaries and other exhibitions around the world."
It not only looks at Madiba's strengths and unifying greatness, but also contemplates his weaknesses, acknowledged by him. Historians question his reluctance to deal with Aids while he was president, the switch from the Reconstruction and Development Programme to the Growth, Employment and Redistribution programme, and the arms deal.
"The strength of the exhibition is the way it attempts to provide a layered glimpse of Mandela in all his various guises and reincarnations," explained Till.
Footage
It uses classic interview footage, like that recorded in the 1960s by the BBC - the British state broadcaster - and Mandela meeting then president PW Botha in the mid-1980s and the 1989 video showing then president FW de Klerk announcing the unbanning of the ANC and other organisations.
When asked by the BBC interviewer what the black man wanted, Mandela said simply but assuredly, "We want one man, one vote." In answer to the question whether this would mean driving out whites, he answered, "South Africa is a country of many races; there is room for everyone."
A contemplative Mandela, free after 27 years in jail
But the item I found most moving was the huge screen replaying images of Mandela: giving his first speech after walking out of prison in 1990; hugging actress Charlize Theron and other celebrities; riding in a carriage with the queen of England through the streets of London; greeting Diana, the late Princess of Wales; and countless images of people raising a fist or singing in celebration of him.
The overriding characteristic of all the images is his inimitable smile.
Research
It took almost two years to research and collect the hundreds of photographs and displays of original artefacts that make up the exhibition, says researcher Jacqui Masiza.
The research team consisted of scriptwriters, editors, picture researchers, and a curator. Pictures were sourced from the ANC journal, Mayibuye, Bailey's Archives, Robben Island, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Museum Africa, the SABC and the BBC.
Historians Phil Bonner and Luli Callinicos were brought in as well.
The largest artefact is a rich red Mercedes Benz, presented to Madiba when he left prison, and made by the workers at the manufacturer's assembly plant in East London.
Perhaps the most surprising footage is of Mandela shaving and making his bed, serving to emphasise the ordinary man behind the public image.
The exhibition will be travelling after its stay at the museum - its first stop is Spain.
The Apartheid Museum is open from Tuesdays to Sundays, from 10am to 5pm. It is on the corner of Northern Parkway and Gold Reef Road, in Ormonde, in Joburg's southwest. Entrance is R60 for adults, and R30 for seniors and students.
Mandela - leader, comrade, negotiator, prisoner, statesman runs until November 2009.
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