The Albany Museum in Grahamstown and the Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha have launched an exhibition which reminds South Africans about the importance of celebrating their heritage and honouring the heroes of the struggle against apartheid.
The Albany Museum in Grahamstown and the Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha have launched an exhibition which reminds South Africans about the importance of celebrating their heritage and honouring the heroes of the struggle against apartheid.
The Peace Making exhibition was officially declared opened on Monday by DA councillor, Michael Whisson.
While addressing guests, Kwezi Mpumlwana, CEO of Nelson Mandela Museum said that "Nelson Mandela and Albert Luthuli were both tools of service for their people and for the disadvantaged." He also said that arts and culture should be aspects that are able to shine through our diverse heritage. The Victoria Girls’ High School Choir blessed the opening with beautifully harmonised choral music. During the exhibition teachers form various schools were informed about the Albany Museum’s educational programmes which will be conducted by Nozipho Madinda, the museum’s educational officer. Learners will be offered an opportunity to understand their history and how different life is now compared to how it was in the past. When praising Mandela and Luthuli, Whisson said that "they are both outstanding leaders who had courage, dignity and compassion."
The Making Peace exhibition displayed material such as poems dedicated to the two political giants. When some of the guests viewed the photos taken during the apartheid era, they commented about the manner in which people are posing in the pictures. In one specific picture there were people posing for the camera while some showed no interest. The exhibition was also accompanied by two other exhibitions which are also included under the heritage category. One of them is entitled Declassification which looks at the apartheid era’s warped ‘scientific’ racism and is on view until the end of October. The other exhibition is called To Those Lost and focuses on death and mourning. The Making Peace exhibition will be open until July 2010 to include the National arts Festival and the Fifa World Cup.
