A new exhibition exploring the roles of Nobel Peace laureates Chief Albert Luthuli and Mr Nelson Mandela in making peace will premier at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. It is in recognition of the roles played by both men, their colleagues and comrades in achieving our freedom, that the Nelson Mandela Foundation salutes their lifelong work in this exhibition, Making Peace.
Making Peace will be launched on July 19, 2007. The exhibition explores the relationship between these two extraordinary leaders and the role of peacemaking in a South African context.
According to Mr Mac Maharaj, former Minister of Transport and a member of the NMF council of advisors, “Luthuli and Mandela epitomise humankind’s deepest desire to create peace inside oneself. The challenge is: will our country find the way forward to peace and freedom?” It is because of this issue that the NMF is showcasing this exhibition.
Chief Luthuli was the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) when the organisation decided to embark on an armed struggle against the apartheid regime. Mr Mandela was the ANC’s leader three decades later as the organisation negotiated a peace settlement with the regime. Both men won Nobel Peace Prizes. The exhibition will be opened by President Bill Clinton in the presence of Mr Mandela.
Mr Ahmed Kathrada, a NMF board of trustees member, believes that Making Peace is an impressive exhibition. “It highlights one of Chief Luthuli’s most important legacies – the struggle for a non-racial, democratic and non-sexist South Africa. This exhibition brings this out very strongly,” said Mr Kathrada.
Immediately following the launch of the exhibition, there will be an “In conversation with Bill Clinton” between President William J Clinton and senior members of the media. President Clinton will be speaking on his Presidential Library and the importance of legacy as it relates to the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and sustaining Mr Mandela’s legacy.