Makaziwe Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s daughter, is selling her father’s paintings of life in jail as NFTs. Her father, former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, created five watercolor paintings depicting life in a Robben Island cell, where he spent 18 of his 27 years in jail.
My Robben Island is made up of five vibrant watercolors created by Mandela after he stepped down as president in 1999, as well as The Motivation, a handwritten text explaining his mental image of the harsh island prison. His autograph may be found on all six pieces. “It is true that Robben Island was once a place of darkness,” Mandela writes in The Motivation, “but out of that darkness has come a wonderful brightness, a light so powerful that it could not be hidden behind prison walls, held back behind prison bars, or hemmed in by the surrounding sea… The most fantastic dreams can be realized if we are willing to face life’s challenges.”
Makaziwe described her father’s work as “the victory of the human spirit.” “My father was surrounded by grey when he was on the island.” Remember that he was given a life sentence. He never imagined he’d be able to leave prison. “However, the paintings tell us not to be discouraged,” she explained. She also stated that converting his art into NFTs allows a wider audience to access his work, therefore democratizing his art.
The Cell, The Window, The Harbor, The Lighthouse, and The Church are among the paintings in Mandela’s collection. The Cell is a painting illustrating the interior of Mandela’s cell block on Robben Island.
On March 9, the My Robben Island collection will be available for a six-hour period on the Nifty Gateway NFT marketplace at a fixed price of $3,495 for the edition. Those seeking for a one-of-a-kind piece will have to spend $699 each. The collection is restricted to 10,000 pieces, but there is no word on how many will be available in March.
Makaziwe Mandela expressed her desire that some of the profits from the NFT sale will go toward the creation of a memorial garden in Qunu, where her father is buried. “Hopefully we will be able to finish the garden before I close my eyes,” she said.
