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Mandela to receive highest Amnesty honour. Le Brocquy's Image of Mandela published by Art for Amnesty
An Art for Amnesty event on behalf of Amnesty International
Posters for the event feature images of Mandela - one, a photograph by Schadeberg and the other a painting by Irish artist Louis le Brocquy.
Louis le Brocquy's Image of Nelson Mandela was commissioned in 1982 by the Association Artists of the World against Apartheid. The collection Art contre/against Apartheid brought together150 paintings and sculptures from 30 countries, shown for the first time at the Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, Paris, 1983. The same year a set of posters and lithographs with designs from 15 artists selected from the collection were published in co-operation with the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid. A poster of le Brocquy's Image of Nelson Mandela was printed with the artist's inscription 'free nelson mandela brave advocate of the rights of man'.
www.artforamnesty.org | www.amnesty.org
The Sunday Independent, October 08, 2006 Edition 1 Charlene Smith
On November 1 Nobel literature laureate Nadine Gordimer will confer Amnesty International's highest award on Nobel peace prize winner Nelson Mandela.
Jurgen Schadeberg, the photographer who has captured Mandela's image from his earliest days as an activist, will also be there.
Irish barrister Bill Shipsey, Art for Amnesty's passionate founder, is behind the organisation's Ambassador of Conscience Award, one that some people believe is more important than the Nobel prize because nominations come from global citizens rather than a select committee.
"More than any living person, Nelson Mandela has come to symbolise all that is hopeful and idealistic in public life," said Shipsey.
"His personal and political leadership since emerging from prison in February 1990 have been a source of inspiration for millions around the world.
"He has become the symbol of what it means to be a good global citizen."
Seamus Heaney, the Nobel literature laureate whose poem From the Republic of Conscience inspired the award, was the first to congratulate Mandela.
"To have written a line about hope and history rhyming for Mr Mandela in 1990 is one thing," said Seamus Heaney.
"To have the man who made them rhyme accept the award inspired by my poem is something else again."
Heaney, 67, who is recovering from a stroke, will be unable to travel to South Africa for the intimate award ceremony. However, his poem From the Republic of Conscience will be read at the event.
The ceremony will be also filmed by Academy Award-nominated documentary film-maker Pamela Yates.
Yates last filmed Mandela in the Bahamas about 15 years ago, when he was the guest of Independent Newspapers owner Tony O'Reilly.
Posters for the event feature images of Mandela - one, a photograph by Schadeberg and the other a painting by Irish artist Louis le Brocquy.
Le Brocquy's painting was commissioned in 1982 by Artists of the World Against Apartheid and was exhibited in France the following year.
Vaclav Havel was the first recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2003.
It has also been given to Irish rock band U2 and Mary Robinson, a former United Nations high commissioner for human rights and president of Ireland.
