© NMF/Matthew Willman
The Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Centre of Memory has been open to the public since 2013. It houses a permanent exhibition, The Life & Times of Nelson Mandela, and provides space for temporary exhibitions that address past and current social issues. An online version of the permanent exhibition has been made available on the Google Arts & Culture platform. A selfie box installed in the permanent exhibition space has proven to be popular with visitors.
In the past year, the Foundation devoted itself to growing the number of visitors to the Centre of Memory through liaison with the Gauteng Tourism Authority. During the report period, 2 337 people visited the Foundation, including walk-ins and bookings.
The following temporary exhibitions were set up:
My Constitution
This exhibition was launched in March 2016 to commemorate 20 years of South Africa’s Constitution.My Constitution reflected the sentiments of 20-year-old South Africans and their relation to the Constitution. It was on display until September 2016, after which it travelled to the Constitutional Court, where it was viewed by 5 972 visitors during December 2016 and January 2017.
The exhibition would be displayed at the Rand Show in April 2017, forming part of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s exhibition and information stand.
Between States Of Emergency
The exhibition was launched in September 2015.The Between States of Emergency photographic exhibition travelled to the McGregor Museum in Kimberley and then moved to the Bo-Kaap Museum in Cape Town.
After being well received at both institutions, the exhibition was to move to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth in April 2017
Poisoned Pasts
Focusing on South Africa’s chemical and biological warfare programme during the apartheid era, this exhibition was launched in October 2016.Poisoned Pasts was launched in October 2016 and scheduled to remain on show at the Foundation until the end of June 2017, before moving to the Steve Biko Centre in King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape. The travelling exhibitions were viewed by 22 780 people during the report period.
For Madiba with LOVE
The permanent exhibition by photographer David Turnley will be touring the Eastern Cape after being on display at the Fort Beaufort Historical Museum.The travelling version of the For Madiba with LOVE exhibition was also on display at the Africa Festival in Würzburg, Germany, in May and June 2016. The second version of the exhibition was displayed during the Youth Expo in June 2016, and also travelled to Port Elizabeth.