The Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town is honouring Nelson Mandela with a very special exhibit of his life and times.
The new exhibit brings to light interesting and perhaps unknown facts about Madiba through art.
Telling his life story, the Exhibit Tata Madiba chronicles his extraordinary journey. But included in it is a feature on Madiba’s great understanding and love of the natural world.
A little known fact is that 20 plant, animal and fossil species were named in his honour. This is vital to their protection.
“We also wanted to show that Mandela wasn’t only a warrior against apartheid but also a warrior for the environment shown very beautifully by all the species dedicated to him,” says Tata Madiba Exhibit Project Manager, Dr. Charlene Janion-Scheepers.
The exhibit also includes an interactive art work by Erhardt Thiel. iMadiba was made to the exact measurements of his cell on Robben Island. The piece invites people in to hold dialogues, something Madiba always valued.
“We really wanted to have a multidisciplinary approach so we wanted to combine social history, art and then also biodiversity and there’s no better person like Nelson Mandela to bring everyone together so for us as a team it was really great fun to do that,” says Dr Janion-Scheepers.
From minuscule creatures that carry his name to art of the stark cell on Robben Island, forever associated with him, the legacy of Tata Madiba lives on as a testament to his greatness.
Watch video below:
![[File photo] Library seen in the image above.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Bellville-Library-@Bellvillelibrary-120x86.jpg)
