Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (gebore 1918) word wêreldwyd gerespekteer as politieke vryheidsikoon
en ‘n geliefde leier bekend as Madiba. Mandela was 27 jaar in die tronk op Robbeneiland, in Pollsmoor
en Victor Verster nadat hy en ander ANC-versetleiers tydens die Rivoniaverhoor in 1964 aan
hoogverraad teen die voormalige apartheidsregering skuldig bevind is en tot lewenslange tronkstraf
gevonnis is. Hy is in 1990 vrygelaat en in 1994 verkies tot Suid-Afrika se eerste demokraties-verkose
staatspresident (1994-1999). Die probleemstelling van hierdie artikel wentel rondom twee vrae:
eerstens op watter manier die Suid-Afrikaanse konseptuele kunstenaar Willem Boshoff (gebore 1951)
in sy installasie Secret Letters (2003) wêreldgebeure vanaf 1964 tot 1990, die tydperk wat Mandela in
die tronk was, aan hom “vertel” en tweedens hoe die kunstenaar daarin slaag om die abstrakte begrip
van eensaamheid van Mandela tydens aanhouding visueel tot vergestalting te bring. Die ondersoek
word onderneem vanuit ‘n postkoloniale teoretiese raamwerk met toespitsing op die invloed van die
rassebegrip en die ontwikkeling van die begrip Christelik gedurende die apartheidsera. Albei hierdie
aspekte se wortels kan gevind word in Britse kolonialisme in Suid-Afrika.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (born 1918) is all over the world respected as a political freedom icon,
and a beloved leader affectionately known as Madiba. He served 27 years in prison on Robben
Island, in Pollsmoor and Victor Verster prison after he and other ANC resistance leaders were found
guilty of high treason against the former apartheid regime during the Rivonia trials in 1964. They
were sentenced to life-long imprisonment. Mandela was released in 1990. In 1994 he became the
first democratically elected president (1994-1999) of South-Africa. The problem statement for this
article is centred around two questions: Firstly, how does the South-African conceptual artist Willem
Boshoff (born 1951) in his installation Secret Letters (2003) “tell” Mandela what happened in the
world from 1964 to 1990, the time that he spent in prison, and secondly, how does the artist succeed in
portraying a visual representation of the abstract notion of lonliness during Mandela’s imprisonment.
Postcolonial critique forms the theoretical framework of this article with a focus on the influence of
the race concept and the development of the idea of Christianity during the apartheid era. The roots
of both of these concepts can be found in British colonialism in South Africa.
