TNT Magazine -
26 November 2003
By Pierre de Villiers
Even into his eighties, south african statesman nelson mandela continues
to astound the world. Pierre de Villiers takes a look at his latest artwork to
hit the galleries.
"As we let our own light shine. we unconsciously give other people permission
to do the same", Nelson Mandela once pointed out.
Ever since the great man walked to freedom through the gates of Paarl's Victor
Verster prison in February 1990, his light has shone so brightly it has illuminated
a nation. First as South Africa's democratically elected president, then as conflict
resolver and humanitarian and now, well into his eighties, as a blossoming artist.
Delving into the memories of his time on Robben Island, where he was incarcerated
in a maximum security prison by the apartheid regime and forced to work in the
lime quarries, Mandela has produced a series of watercolours as revealing as any
biography to hit the shelves in recent times.
A collection of five lithographs of these works were exhibited last year causing
a stir among historians and art critics who noted "a fine sense of perspective,
a strong line and a special significance in Mandela's use of colour".
The second in the series of lithographs, Reflections of Robben Island, consists
of five works each with a description from Mandela himself. Proceeds from the
sales of the lithographs will go to the Nelson Mandela Trust, helping orphaned
and homeless children and sufferers from HIV in South Africa.
The new artworks
THE COURTYARD The image represents a grim wasteland where Mandela was eventually
able to cultivate vegetables which he, cut off from his family, took special pleasure
in nourishing.
BARBED WIRE Symbolising oppression, this work shows Mandela's excellence
as an amateur painter at its best. It conveys a sense of menace, accentuated by
the coils of barbed wire around the base of the guard tower with sinister curves
which are almost palpable as they stretch towards the viewer.
THE TENNIS COURT The transformation of the courtyard into a tennis court
so the prisoners could exercise led Mandela to point out the perversity of being
able to play such a civilised sport in such a brutal environment.
THE GUARD TOWER The colours Mandela uses here show how he is able to
look at the brutally confining stretches of barbed wire in a positive light as
he reflects on what the experience meant to him.
THE HOSPITAL The joyousness in the colouring here celebrates how meaningful
this othervvise grim place became to the internees as it was their only lifeline
for news from the outside world.
