The Sun -
31 Aug 2002
By Tim Spanton
THIS haunting picture by Nelson Mandela shows his view of South Africa
from a cell where he spent 18 years.
The country's former president was held on Robben Island for plotting against
the apartheid regime.
Mr Mandela, 84. drew this simple and idealised crayon sketch while revisiting
the room which was his enforced home for most of his 27-year sentence.
He also painted watercolours of the island ho left nine years before his final
release in 1990.
The works are to go on show in London before they are auctioned for his Children's
Fund charity.
Robin Simon, editor of The British Art Journal, said: 'These works are very moving,
simple, powerful and sincere.
"Mr Mandela could easily have made a living as an artist. He has a sure,
clear line and technique, and a strong sense of composition."
Mr Mandela, kept in Cell Block C, was forced to quarry stones with his bare
hands. But his thoughts of Cape Town's Table mountain helped him survive.
He said: "'These sketches are not so much about my life as they are about
the life of my country. A quest for righteousness can never be repressed. In time
we broke loose the shackles of injustice."
Masterstroke
HERE'S a prediction
Nelson Mandela's sketch of his own prison bars, shown on this page, will become
a global icon. It will be seen on T-shirts, on stamps, on bedroom walls. It is
a compelling, childlike Image reflecting Mandela's modesty and awesome spirit.
It deserves to become one of the enduring symbols of the 20th Century.
