Textile Details

'Anti-Apartheid wall hanging', by Aberystwyth Anti-Apartheid Group. (Photo: Seirian De’Rome)

This double sided wall hanging was made by the Aberystwyth Anti Apartheid Group at a workshop facilitated by peace activist Thalia Campbell, on the occasion of Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday in 1988.

On the front of the wall hanging a black and a white girl stand shoulder to shoulder with arms entwined, a simple gesture not permitted in Apartheid South Africa (1950 - 1994). They gaze out on Aberystwyth’s seafront and promenade, against the backdrop of Constitution hill and the cliff railway. On the reverse side, a Welsh dragon is melting the chains of Apartheid with his fiery breath. The wording on the banner, in both Welsh and English, proclaim ‘Freedom’ and ‘Anti-Apartheid’.

Designed for public protest and awareness raising, this wall hanging was used with other textile banners at an event held outside Aberystwyth Town Hall in 1988. At this gathering, a group of local people sang ‘Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika / God Bless Africa’, the black protest song that under the presidency of Mandela was juxtaposed with the old white anthem ‘Die Stem / The Call’, to become the national anthem of South Africa.

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