The work of three Art Center students was selected for the Mandela95 Poster Project
Today is Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday. To commemorate this momentous event, a group of South African designers formed the Mandela Poster Project Collective, whose mission was to collect 95 posters for inclusion in a traveling exhibition which would ultimately be auctioned by the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust. After receiving over 700 submissions from designers around the world, yesterday the committee announced the final collection of 95 entries, which includes the work of three Art Center students — Zarina Mendoza , David Iker Sanchez and Jasveer Sidhu — who developed their contributions as part of a Designmatters and Graphic Design collaboration under the creative leadership of Leonard Konopelski.
To further honor Mandela’s vast contributions to human rights, we’re republishing the following essay by Amanda du Preez, professor of visual arts at University of Pretoria, paying tribute to the former President of South Africa’s role as a cultural icon and nonviolent global changemaker.