Sep 15, 2008 - Celebrations of Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday occurred throughout the year.
Events featured exhibitions, dialogues, a book launch and a 46664 concert.
The focus was on “a celebration of ideas” and while there were shows and musical events, they too were aimed at assisting the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s ongoing social justice work and the perpetuation of Mr Mandela’s ideals of freedom, non-racism and gender equality.
Four years ago Mr Mandela announced his official retirement and he is determined now to spend as much time as he can with his friends and family. For this reason and because the three Mandela organisations have taken up the mantle of his work, this year was a mixture of celebrations and the continuation of the work to promote his vision.
- March to November: a series of youth community dialogues, essay and arts competitions focused on Mr Mandela’s leadership and the vision of an African child. In partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.
- The Nelson Mandela Institute for Education and Rural Development will announce a five-year developmental programme with the Department of Education to identify and support a network of rural school communities called the Mandela School Community Network. A book of poetry will be launched as a birthday gift to Mr Mandela from the learners of the Eastern Cape.
- Under the banner of “Justice in Education in Our Lifetime”, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Institute for Education and Rural Development will launch a series of public dialogue platforms inspired by Mr Mandela’s commitment to public education.
- From March to July: a newspaper series of six interviews to honour Mr Mandela were published on the Foundation’s website.
- March 12: a new exhibition called Parenting a Nation: Walter & Albertina Sisulu was launched with the Walter Sisulu Paediatric Cardiac Centre for Africa at Mandela House. It was opened by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who gave the keynote address.
- March 14: a reunion and dialogue (in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden) with the surviving former trialists from the trials in which Mr Mandela was an accused, together with others, namely the Defiance Campaign Trial, the 1956 Treason Trial and the Rivonia Trial.
- June: the South African leg of a global “birthday wishes campaign” was launched. This campaign gives people all around the world the opportunity to send their personal messages to Mr Mandela through the following media: SMS, MMS and online.
- June 27: the 46664 90th Birthday Concert was held at Hyde Park in London to celebrate Mr Mandela’s life and legacy on an international scale.
- The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund held a series of Children’s Parliaments in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia, which culminated in a joint sitting via satellite in June.
- June: launch of the 46664 precious metals bangles by Coutts Inc. and 46664, with limited-edition 90th birthday bangles in silver, gold and platinum produced for a special fundraising event in London.
- July 5: launch at Constitution Hill of Hunger for Freedom: The Story of Food in the Life of Nelson Mandela by Anna Trapido (in collaboration with Jacana Media).
- July 9: “Celebrate a Children’s Champion at 90” was the theme of the annual Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund celebration.
- July 12: Her Excellency Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the President of Liberia, delivered the Sixth Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture at the Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto.
- July: release of the Madiba Legacy Series comics published as a book with the title Nelson Mandela: The Authorised Comic Book (in collaboration with Jonathan Ball Publishers).
- July: the launch of a Mandela Rhodes Foundation young leaders’ facility in the Western Cape.
- August: launch in Atlanta, USA of a 15-city American tour of A Portrait of Mandela, a spectacular symphonic presentation staged by Msomi-Duhart Enterprises.
- August 22: the Malibongwe Dialogue, to celebrate the role of women in society, was launched as an annual event with the Department of Arts and Culture.
- September 18: 46664 were awarded the only slot reserved annually for a charity event at the Royal Albert Hall in London. A spectacular entertainment event took place.
- November 8: a major retrospective exhibition on Mr Mandela’s life and times was opened at the Apartheid Museum.