In commemoration of our founder's legacy: Join us in paying tribute

On 4 December 2014 staff and trustees at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, together with key partners, members of the Mandela family, esteemed guests and dignitaries and members of the media gathered at the Foundation premises in Houghton, Johannesburg to commemorate Nelson Mandela's life and legacy with the launch of a rich media exhibition and digital activation titled, "In Tribute to Nelson Mandela".

The exhibition, which will be on display at the Foundation until the end of February 2015, is a curated collection of tributes from citizens across the globe who shared their messages of grief, hope and inspiration.

From children's drawings to cards; poetry; photographs; prayers; letters and hundreds of books of condolence,the exhibition profiles a selection of multimedia messages to Madiba from across the globe.

A digital activation, accessible via appointed laptops and touch screens, accompanies the real-life exhibition, and encourages all visitors to the Centre to engage with the concept of legacy and share their tribute to Madiba.

The digital interface, which is hosted on the all-new Nelson Mandela Foundation website, is an interactive pledge mechanism that captures individual tributes and presents the text, audio and video messages as pixels that collate and form an image of Madiba's face.

"The concept of the digital activation is that is encourages active participation in building the image of legacy," says Danielle Melville, Head of Communications and Outreach at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

"By adding your tribute to Mandela, you become a part of his living legacy."

Visitors are also encouraged to share the app via social media using the #LivingtheLegacy.

Exhibition of tribute messages

"After our Founder's death last year, we received tributes from people from more than 130 countries arrived at the Foundation. Prisoners and politicians, mineworkers and members of the clergy took time to honour Madiba for the impact he made on their lives. Each item sent to us was processed by our Archive team who catalogued them and stored them in our strongroom along with President Mandela's private papers," says Foundation Chief Executive, Sello Hatang.

"To mark the one-year anniversary of his passing on 5 December 2013 we will put on display a selection of these message until the end of February 2015.

Also on display will be the gun carriage which transported President Mandela's coffin.

"We have been deeply touched by the outpouring of love from virtually every corner of the world and are grateful to each and every person who sent a message," he added.

The exhibition features curated SABC footage, audio clips from global citizens and penned tributes, drawings, poems and more from world leaders.

Members of the public are welcome to visit the exhibition any time from 5 December 2014, from 9am to 4pm on weekdays and from 9am to 2pm on weekends.

The building will be closed for the festive season from 23 December to 5 January.

Media contacts

For more information about the Tribute exhibition please contact Danielle Melville at the Nelson Mandela Foundation on gro.alednamnoslen@melleinaD.