CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician
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‘May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears’
The Nelson Mandela statue in Pretoria epitomises the early, but yet to be fulfilled, promise of an all-embracing prosperous ‘Rainbow Nation’
THE REDEEMER: Nelson Mandela statue in Pretoria
[Haruba-bad/Creative Commons]
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FIONA O’CONNOR admires an ambitious first novel that loosens South Africa’s rainbow collective to examine the racial tensions within
Aussie mining corporation murder, Liverpudlian ex-cop amnesia, a naive vigilante tries to reset capitalism, and the riddle of the dead psychoanalyst
SYLVIA HIKINS is persuaded by an entertaining play that the true miracle of Lourdes would be for attitudes toward disability to change
JAMIE BRITTON recommends this fine analysis of the architectural, ecological and infrastructural destruction of the Gaza Strip
NELSON MANDELA died eight years ago on December 5 2013. This statue of him was unveiled on December 16 — the official Day of Reconciliation — thus ending the 10-day-long period of mourning.
The nine-metre-high bronze figure is the tallest figurative statue of Nelson Mandela and weighs approximately 3.5 tonnes. Its outstretched arms span eight metres and are uncannily reminiscent of Paul Landowski’s 1930 art deco Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio de Janeiro from the Corcovado mountain peak.
The statue, which emanates warmth, humanity and welcome, was cast in 147 separate pieces at four different foundries before being assembled in Cape Town.
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