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 In collaboration with the Royal House of Mandela and the Mvezo Development Trust, Nelson Mandela: The Official Exhibition opens at 26 Leake Street on Friday, February 8th and runs until Sunday 2nd June 2019.

This major global museum exhibition, celebrating his life and legacy, will feature many previously unseen artifacts marking the centenary of Mandela’s birth to honour the 5th year of his passing.

Nelson Mandela was a Lawyer, a revolutionary, a political prisoner, a World leader and an Elder statesman. In the past 50 years and five years after his passing, he remains an icon for human rights and is seen globally as an advocate for change. He still stands today as a symbol of the struggle against oppression.

The exhibition is designed to educate, entertain and inspire using many personal belongings and objects never previously seen outside of South Africa.

In a series of experiential zones, the exhibition reveals his epic story. It takes visitors on Mandela’s life journey, from his little-known beginnings in rural Mvezo, Transkei, through decades of turbulent struggle against the apartheid regime, to his eventual vindication and final years as South Africa’s first black president, ‘Father of South Africa’, and a globally loved and respected figure. 

Items include the suit worn for the opening of the South African parliament in 1996; a traditional headdress gifted to him by The King of Xhosa people, King Xolilzwe Sigcawu as he awarded Mandela the ancient tribal warrior honour of the Isithwalandwe Sesizwe, for the first time in two centuries; his presidential desk and chair and his much loved iconic beige trench coat, combined with immersive media presentations and scenic re-creations, to enable visitors to actively engage with and experience key moments in Nelson Mandela’s life.

Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela says of the exhibition;

“The Royal House of Mandela is delighted to endorse this exhibition honouring the life and legacy of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela as it truly captures the spirit of our global icon whose name has become synonymous with international solidarity, justice and peace. It succeeds in quintessentially depicting the man and the legend whose struggle and sacrifice has captivated the hearts and minds of millions around the world. This exhibition is truly an inspiration and an inspired effort; I believe that everyone who sees it will agree that the legacy lives on and that the dream will never die.”                     

Lizzy Moriarty, Exhibition Advisor to Nelson Mandela: The Official Exhibition said:

“It is only once in a professional lifetime that a chance comes along to work on an exhibition of such magnitude, with objects which tell such a powerful story so relevant to our times. The exhibition is unusual in that it gives people the chance to get close to the man himself, as a family man, as an activist and as the peacemaker of his time.”

Concluding Steven Swaby, Narrative Producer said:

“This unique exhibition goes beyond the well-known ‘Mandela myth’ and reveals the inner stories of a remarkable life lived with remarkable courage, conviction and compassion.

It asks us to consider the meaning of Mandela in the here-and-now and explores the complexities of his legacy in a world where inequality and injustice are still a daily fact of life.”

While Nelson Mandela’s story has been told before many times over, Nelson Mandela: The Official Exhibition is different.

Featuring unique insights from across the spectrum – from close family, friends and others who admired him from afar, it is full of personal artefacts and other material that reveal the stories behind the headlines and in so doing bringing us closer to the man behind the myth.

Nelson Mandela: The Official Exhibition runs from Friday, February 8th to Sunday 2nd June 2019 at 26 Leake Street, London.      

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