Mandela 100: Exhibition at Havana’s Casa de Africa
By Irina Pino
HAVANA TIMES — Nelson Mandela, the tireless fighter who struggled against apartheid in South Africa, is the star of the new traveling exhibition “Mandela 100”, at the Africa House on 157 Obrapia Street in Old Havana. It will be open to the public from May until August.
Artworks from Argentinian curator Ignacio Vazquez, recreate a part of the global icon’s life, including installations, photographs and written texts.
The exposition draws us into the work of a man who waged a war against segregation in South Africa for decades, as a political activist fighting for Black people’s rights.
A replica of his jail cell on Robben Island, where he was held for 18 years of his 27-year sentence, gives us an insight into his moral and spiritual strength.
Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela (his real name) was born on July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, a small village on the Mbashe rivershore, in the Umtata district, Transkei region in what is South Africa today. During his youth, he worked as a guard at a gold mine and as an office-worker to support himself financially while he studied Law.
His biography and other interesting facts can be found in the Mediateca on the Casa de Africa’s second floor, where the exhibition is being held. You can also find books and movies relating to Nelson Mandela’s long struggle.
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“had Fidel Castro remained true to his supposedly original views – in 1952 he was a candidate for the Orthodox party until the election was cancelled by Batista and if he had in 1959 following a period of military rule necessary to establish stable administration, law and order, held open free elections, the Cuba of today would be very different and Fidel Castro like Mahatma Ghandi and Nelson Mandela would have earned a similarly honoured place in world history for freeing his people and introducing democracy. But Fidel Castro in his craving for control and personal power chose otherwise, he chose communism and dictatorship.”
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