Organized by the Brazil Africa Institute, the “Mandela: from Prisoner to President” exhibition opens in Brasilia on 12 September. The exhibition is one of the activities held around the world to commemorate the centennial of the birth of Nelson Mandela, the South African who has become a symbol of the fight against Apartheid. The Centre of Excellence against Hunger, which is a partner of the Institute’s, will participate in the opening ceremony of the show.
The federal capital will be the second Brazilian city to receive the international exhibition, which has already been displayed in Fortaleza, in the Northeast of Brazil. In Brasilia, the exhibition will take place at the Itamaraty Palace, headquarters of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from 12 September to 4 October. In 2018, the year of Nelson Mandela’s centenary, the international exhibition circuit includes, in addition to Brazil, simultaneous exhibits in Canada, Ireland and England.
“We look forward to seeing the exhibition now leave Fortaleza and go to Brasilia, so that all this emotion continues through Brazil,” says show creator and director of the Apartheid Museum, Christopher Till.
“Mandela: from Prisoner to President” is curated by the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was conceived in 2008. It has passed through France, Sweden, the United States, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, and Luxembourg and reached an audience of more than one million people.
The exhibition presents Mandela’s life divided into six phases: “The Person,” “The Comrade,” “The Leader,” “The Prisoner,” “The Negotiator,” and “The Man of State.” Photos and videos build on the narrative from the start of activism against the racist regime of the South African government, to 27 years in prison, the Nobel Peace Prize, until his election as the first black president of South Africa.
“Our country still has a series of ‘social apartheids’ that need to be solved and reflecting on the examples that Nelson Mandela left us, of union and fight for justice, can help all Brazilians begin to act for a change in the future,” says the president of the Brazil Africa Institute, João Bosco Monte.