Mandela and Me Exhibition: Marking 100 since the birth of Nelson Mandela.

Tuesday 10 July 2018

The British Council is pleased to announce the much anticipated launch of Mandela and Me, an exhibition dedicated to marking the occasion of 100 years since the birth of Nelson Mandela and linking the centenary to its ongoing program of the Next Generation South Africa, giving voice to South Africa’s youth. In collaboration with our partners Anglo American and the Apartheid Museum, the exhibition in London focusses on Mandela’s legacy and what he means to young South Africans today.

Colm McGivern, Director British Council South Africa explains the rationale behind the exhibition by stating that: “Over the past 6 months, the British Council in South Africa asked hundreds of the young people we work with to tell us what Mandela means to them. The results, represented in this exhibition by some learners highlight that Mandela is still revered as the father of the rainbow nation, and his words, philosophies, and beliefs still resonate and are widely known and understood.”

The exhibition launched on Thursday, 5 July 2018, with a host of speakers which included British Council CEO, Sir Ciarán Devane, Minister of Parliament, Harriett Baldwin, South African Deputy High Commissioner to the UK, Golden Neswiswi, Anglo American’s Head of Government Relations, Richard Morgan , The Right Honourable Lord Hain and our youth ambassadors from South Africa.

The unique nature of the exhibition is the juxtaposing of the famous words and images of Mandela with those of some of the young people that he has inspired. The young people’s views are elevated alongside those of Tata Madiba and are testament to the power of his legacy for the words of the young people are often as lyrical and inspiring as his own. British Council works with Anglo American at some of its mines in rural South Africa, with programs like Active Citizens and most recently the Micro:Bit coding-for-kids project. Anglo American has provided sponsorship in support of the production and has taken 8 learners (5 learners from Rustenburg and 3 learners from Limpopo) to London for the opening of the exhibition. All of the learners feature in the exhibition.

- ENDS-

Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #MandelaAndMe

For further information or requests, please contact:

Charlotte Ramparsad, Communications Manager, British Council

charlotte.ramparsad@britishcouncil.org.za, 011560 9348

Notes to Editor

About Anglo American

Anglo American is a multinational mining company based in Johannesburg, South Africa and London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of platinum, with around 40% of world output, as well as being a major producer of diamonds, copper, nickel, iron ore and metallurgical and thermal coal. The company has operations in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America

About the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Last year we reached over 65 million people directly and 731 million people overall including online, broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.