Exhibition a reminder of ‘prisoner reunion’
AN ART exhibition depicting former political prisoners incarcerated at Robben Island for decades was launched at the Nelson Mandela Gateway to the island yesterday – marking 20 years since they came together to celebrate their freedom.
The historic reunion – held in 1995 – was led by the late former president Nelson Mandela. On Saturday the country will be celebrating Madiba Day to honour his legacy.
Ex-prisoner Kwedie Mkhaliphi, 81, who spent 20 years in jail from 1966 said the exhibition took him back to when he saw his friends for the first time after being released.
“It’s a pity not all of us who were at the reunion are still alive to witness the memories we made back then. But I’m happy about this exhibition because it means we are being recognised and everyone will get to see what happened that day,” he said.
The exhibition has banners with signatures and a short documentary of the prisoners who were present at the reunion.
Dagama Mngqibiso, 86, who spent five years behind bars, said spending time in Robben Island was painful but “there was nothing they could do about it at the time”, and that the exhibition was a perfect reminder of the good time they had after being released. “The reunion we had in 1995 was very nice because we came together to spend a few days after many years together in prison.”