Driven by the desire to keep Nelson Mandela’s legacy alive, a journalist and an artist from Germany have collaborated to present an exhibition depicting the stalwart’s life.
The Mandela Project tour is a collaboration between painter Dagmar Schmidt and journalist Ulrich Reimann. It has been exhibited in Germany and Cape Town – and now heads to East London.
It opens on February 11 at the Ann Bryant Art Gallery and runs until March 5. Schmidt has exhibited her work in Cologne, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Liverpool, Cairo, Alexandria and the Seychelles.
Reimann explained to the Daily Dispatch how the whole project started.
“Dagmar was in South Africa for the first time last year and we spent three weeks just travelling through South Africa visiting all the places that were significant in Nelson Mandela’s life from birth to death.
“In all that time she was sketching and taking pictures,” Reimann said.
He said she had preserved all her impressions and on her return to Germany transformed them into a collection of 30 paintings.
The first exhibition of the collection was held last year on the second anniversary of Madiba’s death, at the SA embassy in Berlin.
“And now the paintings will be exhibited in places in South Africa that were significant in Nelson Mandela’s life,” he said.
In South Africa the collection was showcased at the Robben Island Museum for four weeks.
“Mandela’s release from prison in 1990 happened at the same time that East and West Germany reunited, so that for us was significant,” he said.
Reimann said that the paintings were for sale but would only be delivered to buyers once the tour was complete. Already 11 paintings have been sold.
The exhibition will move from East London to Alice and end up in Soweto. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
Capturing Madiba’s spirit
The Mandela Project tour is a collaboration between painter Dagmar Schmidt and journalist Ulrich Reimann. It has been exhibited in Germany and Cape Town – and now heads to East London.
It opens on February 11 at the Ann Bryant Art Gallery and runs until March 5. Schmidt has exhibited her work in Cologne, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Liverpool, Cairo, Alexandria and the Seychelles.
Reimann explained to the Daily Dispatch how the whole project started.
“Dagmar was in South Africa for the first time last year and we spent three weeks just travelling through South Africa visiting all the places that were significant in Nelson Mandela’s life from birth to death.
“In all that time she was sketching and taking pictures,” Reimann said.
He said she had preserved all her impressions and on her return to Germany transformed them into a collection of 30 paintings.
The first exhibition of the collection was held last year on the second anniversary of Madiba’s death, at the SA embassy in Berlin.
“And now the paintings will be exhibited in places in South Africa that were significant in Nelson Mandela’s life,” he said.
In South Africa the collection was showcased at the Robben Island Museum for four weeks.
“Mandela’s release from prison in 1990 happened at the same time that East and West Germany reunited, so that for us was significant,” he said.
Reimann said that the paintings were for sale but would only be delivered to buyers once the tour was complete. Already 11 paintings have been sold.
The exhibition will move from East London to Alice and end up in Soweto. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
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