JDA forges ties with the Nelson Mandela Foundation
by Robyn Sassen
Nelson Mandela is one of history's most extraordinary people � he has touched the lives of many of us and has given this country an incredible legacy. The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), in cooperation with Constitution Hill, has taken the initiative to establish an institution that honours Mandela, documents his life and promotes his legacy.
In launching the proceedings on March 16, Minister Mac Maharaj quoted Archbishop Desmond Tutu: 'Without memory it would be virtually impossible to learn', he said. 'What I know is what I remember'. This set the tone for an important visual heritage-based partnership that was ratified, in the expansive foyer of the Constitution Hill, under intricate and massive wire sculptures by Walter Oltmann.
Coinciding with the exhibition of photographs entitled 'The Prisoner in the Garden', a collection of documents and photographs from Mandela's 27 years of incarceration, which in turn coincides with the 466/64 concert, a formal agreement was signed between the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Johannesburg Development Agency.
With choristers from three different schools, speakers including Judge Arthur Chaskalson, Maharaj and Nelson Mandela himself, the launch was well-coordinated. Other than formally ratifying the housing of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and Commemoration (NMCMC) at Constitution Hill, the purpose of the agreement is to offer 'a virtual archival interface, accessible through the Internet, making material on Mr Mandela available to a global audience', Verne Harris, Project Manager for the NMCMC explained.
In addition, the centre will offer 'a public programming initiative which will ensure that resources are taken to local communities, and... there will be a physical collection of materials, documenting mainly Mr. Mandela's post-1999 work.'
The JDA has played an important role in masterminding urban regeneration of the Johannesburg inner city and central business district. John Samuels, CEO of the NMCMC explained that the project had initially been launched last September. As a repository for stories, the site would carry multiple-narrative resources, which would be merged within the public space of Constitution Hill.
