The unveiling follows months of hard work by JDA staff and the Bertrams Junior School learners to create the artwork on a school wall in celebration of Mandela Day. The mosaic uses brightly coloured tiles to recreate the hands of the JDA staff and the school learners.

 

The mosaic was inspired by 46664's and the Nelson Mandela Foundation's (NMF) Mandela Day initiative. Mandela Day – July 18 – was set aside as a day on which ordinary South Africans would be motivated to give back to their communities in honour of Nelson Mandela’s commitment to human rights and equality.

 

“When the time came for us to celebrate Mandela Day, we had an idea to link our partnership with Bertrams Junior School,” said Lael Bethlehem, chief executive of the JDA, an agency tasked with redeveloping Johannesburg’s inner city and surrounding townships.

 

The school the agency happened to choose opened its doors on the very day Mr Mandela was born: July 18, 1918.

 

“There was some special magic – some Madiba magic – in that coincidence,” said Bethlehem.

 

At the unveiling, Bethlehem encouraged the learners to embrace the Mandela Day message. “Show kindness to each other and build one South African nation that is unique in its diversity. Follow the vision of Nelson Mandela,” she said.

 

Melissa Love, representative of the Atterbury Foundation, said: “We are very happy to be part of this, for our heart is very close to the inner city and it’s a vision of ours to uplift the inner city.”

 

At the unveiling, the school choir performed a series of songs and expressed their thanks to the JDA, the NMF and the Atterbury Foundation.

 

“To you, Lael, and your team, we cannot thank you enough for recognising our tiny school and for putting us on the map,” said school principal Khanyi Twana. “We hope that the mosaic wall and the magic hands will inspire us and the next generation to come.”

 

Sello Hatang, Information and Communications Manager at the NMF, said: “This is a very good day, an important day. Mandela Day is not about some grand idea – all Mr Mandela was asking of us was to take care of our neighbours, and the JDA and the school have helped to make Mandela Day an everyday experience.”

 

The learners and JDA staff were assisted in their creative efforts by Andrew Lindsay, curator of @Spaza Art. He gave both groups a short workshop on how to mosaic and then guided them through the process, helping them where necessary.

 

The result is a floor-to-ceiling artwork depicting the hands of all the people involved in the project.

 

Lindsay chose hands as a motif, as they are an easy shape that both experienced and inexperienced artists can create. He also liked the symbolism that hands represent, tying in with the Mandela day imagery.

 

“This mosaic is a true joining of hands, making it a true tapestry that truly reflects our society and our commitment to working together and joining hands,” said Lindsay.