
Free Mandela!
<p>Behind the red text calling for Nelson Mandela’s freedom is a photograph of Table Bay. This bay surrounds South Africa’s infamous Robben Island penitentiary, where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison. The apartheid government so feared Mandela’s influence that they made it illegal to photograph him or publish his image. From 1964 to 1986 no pictures of Mandela were allowed to circulate, and few people knew what he looked like. Activists grew creative in designing material to support his release; Medu member Michael Kahn took the photograph of Table Bay expressly for this poster.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1980
- Dimensions
- 45.8 × 35.5 cm (18 1/16 × 14 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Albio Gonzalez
Artist
More
More by Albio Gonzalez
Shades of Change
1982 · Offset lithograph on white wove paper
Welcome Comrade Machel
1982 · Screenprint in gray and red on white wove paper
June 16: The Courage of the Youth
1981 · Screenprint in black and red on white wove paper
Smash Bantu Education
1980 · Screenprint in black and red on white wove paper
The Constellation of States
1979 · Offset lithograph in red and black on white wove paper
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Albio Gonzalez
- Year
- 1980
- Dimensions
- 45.8 × 35.5 cm (18 1/16 × 14 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1980-100795
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified





