The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

(Mandela’s birth place), on the banks of the Mbashe River. Qunu village, where Mandela
spent his childhood, would be the site for the development of a youth and community
centre.
In the first phase of its development, the Exhibition Committee of the Nelson Mandela
Museum declared that the objectives of the museum exhibition were to “illustrate the life,
the times, the philosophy and legacy” of Mandela within a local, national and
international context. Nation building and reconciliation would be articulated and
promoted, while it would also provide an opportunity to “consolidate our democracy by
providing an understanding of the processes that led to it”. In the exhibition, Mandela’s
life became a means to “document the struggle for democracy and its context”, and “trace
cultural diversity and cultural mobility”. Extracts from Long Walk To Freedom
complemented by photographs, press cuttings, pamphlets, posters and video footage tried
to ensure that Mandela’s “thoughts and feelings” were communicated “in his own
words”. Mandela’s museum biography was organised as history lessons for students and
tourists, organised around five chronological modules. These began with Mandela’s
“country childhood”, while others focused on his role in the liberation struggle before
imprisonment, “the Dark Years” of imprisonment, “Freedom” and “Democracy”. 216
In its creation, the Nelson Mandela Museum was intended to prioritise “accessibility,
broad participation, tourism promotion and community ownership”. Although it was a
museum that was national in status and objectives, its staffing and targeted beneficiaries
were intended to be from local communities. One of the immediate benefits of its
construction was the improvement of an access road and other infrastructure in Mvezo.
The concept of a museum market place (as distinct from a museum shop) emerged as
appropriate to the needs of local communities. It was intended that members of the local
community would also benefit from operating a co‐operative transportation and shuttle
service between the three museum sites. The entire project was a cultural element of a
Spatial Development initiative aimed at alleviating rural poverty, “stimulating
216 ‘Nelson Mandela Museum: Exhibition Brief and Proposal’ (Exhibition Committee Discussion
Document), author’s possession.
266