Zapiro Jives with Madiba at the Jewish Museum

Have You Seen It Yet?

In a wonderful acknowledgement of the talents of cartoonist Zapiro (who hasn't always ingratiated himself with conservatives in his Jewish community), the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town has curated an exhibition of his cartoons entitled 'Jiving with Madiba'.

Some 130 cartoons depict Nelson Mandela as "Prisoner, President and Pensioner", and the tribute is complemented by an impressive multi-media account of the cartoons and other interesting anecdotes. There are ancient devices on show too, such as a zoetrope (animating a jiving Madiba), a replica drawing board (as used by old school cartoonists such as Zapiro), a life-sized Mandela puppet for you to be photographed with, and comic books (remember them?) to keep younger visitors occupied.

Andrew Goldman, the Jewish Museum’s dynamic new Director says that the exhibition is "truly an inspiring romp through the first two decades of the New South Africa, as serialised in our media by our greatest cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro”.

Africartoons visited the exhibition while the curators were still scurrying around putting together the finishing touches, but from what we saw, this looks set to be the slickest exhibition of editorial cartoons ever hosted in South Africa. Do yourself a big favour and go see it!

THE DETAILS: The Exhibition officially opens on Thursday 14 July. However, the exhibit is open now for Zapiro’s Africartoons.com fans to have a sneak peak. Entrance is R15, Children are free! The South African Jewish Museum is in 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, and is open Sunday-Thursday 10-5 and Fridays 10-2.  For further information call 021-465-1546.

Posted on Jul 07, 2011 by Africartoons