In his 1962 autobiography, Let My People Go, Chief Albert Luthuli recorded: "I shall die, if need be, for this cause. But I do not want to die until I have seen the building begun".
Two years later, in his 1964 statement from the Dock, Nelson Mandela declared: "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society. It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die".
Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela are not just icons of the liberation struggle; they're also the stewards of arguably the two most important texts that embody the values South Africans strive to give meaning to: the 1955 Freedom Charter and the South African constitution adopted in 1996.
Both men were prepared to lay down their lives for the ideals embodied therein.
This June and July, as South Africa hosts the world's greatest sporting spectacle, the Department of Arts and Culture, in association with the Nelson Mandela Museum, stages a multi-site exhibition, In Conversation: Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
Presented as a dialogue between Chief Luthuli and Madiba, it invites reflection on the continued relevance for our country and the world of the values they espoused.
In Conversation explores and connects the lives of the two men, using quotations from writings, photographs, audio material and film footage, allowing glimpses into the personal and public aspects of their lives.
Their lifetimes and life stories are presented using material from various well known and lesser known private and public archives and collections.
The exhibition features conversations from actual exchanges between the two men as well as some broader conversations such as observations of the people they were associated with, as well as symbolic dialogues that allow for the continuation of debates that are relevant today.
The conversations illustrate the desire of the two leaders for a peaceful resolution of South Africa's problems. The dialogues also demonstrate how different strategies had to be adopted at different moments in history in order to defeat segregation and apartheid.
Details of the event are as follows:
Date: Friday, 25 June 2010
Time: 14h00
Venue: Constitutional Hill, Johannesburg, section four, Lekgotla
For information contact:
Pumeza Mandela
Cell: 079 507 6574
Sandisile Tshuma
Tel: 011 639 0040
Cell: 071 327 3394
