Madiba spoke to the heart

SHELLEY ELK

The last few weeks have been life changing for South Africans. Many of us, even those of us living abroad, feel to the depths of our soul, a sense of loss when a great man departs. On Dec. 5, 2013, at 8:50 p.m., surrounded by his family, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela drew his last mortal breath and began the next phase of his journey.

Mandela emerged in 1990 after 27 years on Robbin Island, with a smile exuding wisdom and compassion. At the helm, Tata Madiba, as he is lovingly known in South Afica, artfully steered our ship through stormy waters. While many thought South Africa was on the brink of disaster, Madiba’s statesmanship and character forged a new era in which diplomacy and reconciliation become possible. In his presence, we felt safe. Choppy waters were a mere distraction against a clear horizon, the goal attainable, the ideal, real. Madiba explained his decision to leave anger and bitterness towards his oppressors behind. “If I hold on to the anger and bitterness, I am still in prison,” he explained.

Madiba symbolized the best a person has to offer. Mortal, yet flawed. Principled and with integrity, he never claimed to be a saint. He made mistakes, owned them, corrected them. He’s human. Through his example of forgiveness towards his oppressors, Madiba lifted and inspires us to do better, try harder, dig deeper to find solutions. His magnetic smile, infectious laugh, the famous Madiba jig and his playful humor, reflect a child’s innocence wrapped in an elder’s wisdom.

On Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013, Madiba’s body was laid to rest in his boyhood home in the Eastern Cape. According to the elders, his burial was at noon, when the sun reaches it’s highest point – “for a person befitting his stature.” During the memorial, Cyril Ramaphosa explained, all South Africans, Africans and citizens from around the world experienced “Madiba moments” – those experienced through personal interaction with Mandela, or indirectly.

The chief rabbi of South Africa, Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein, likened Mandela to a modern-day Joseph. At the Dec. 12 memorial tribute, Goldstein said, “Joseph, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, was thrown into a pit with snakes and scorpions by his brothers who were filled with hatred and jealousy towards him. And he was then sold into slavery and exiled from his father and from his home for 22 years, many of which, due to a terrible injustice, were spent in jail.

“Joseph emerged from jail to become a leader and head of government of a mighty nation. And when he was reunited with his brothers, had the opportunity to exact vengeance and justice. And yet, Joseph, the righteous, transcended his personal pain and need for retribution by forgiving his brothers, so that his family would not be torn apart and destroyed forever.”

Goldstein continued, explaining that Mandela, like Joseph, forgave his oppressors. “So, too, O Lord, your servant Nelson Mandela, like the biblical Joseph, rose up from jail to become president of a mighty nation. He, too, transcended his personal pain and years of suffering to forgive and to embrace his brothers and sisters who had inflicted so much pain on him and so many millions of others, in order that our diverse South African family would not be torn apart by hatred and division.

“Nelson Mandela spoke to our hearts. He brought us comfort. And through his mighty power of forgiveness he sustained us, and liberated our country from the pit of prejudice and injustice, unleashing the awesome generosity of spirit of millions of South Africans.”

His words caused me to pause, reflecting on a particular Madiba moment of my own, and the legacy, example and inspiration he has entrusted to us.

I was a South African-born artist and writer living in Canada, studying design at Emily Carr University, when I returned to South Africa for a one-year break in 1997. This year turned into a protracted delay in my studies. Based on Mandela’s 1995 autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, designs that I had created, “Birth of Royalty,” “Struggle” and “New Nation,” were adapted for a limited-edition pen collection in honor of Mandela, an adaptation for which I was not properly accredited or acknowledged.

I later completed three paintings based on the original sketches, and was overjoyed at receiving an invitation to participate in the Mandela@94 tribute exhibition in honor of Mandela’s 94th birthday. The July 2012 group exhibition, curated by Natalie Knight, was held at Origins Centre at Witwatersrand University, Madiba’s alma mater.

Despite the disappointment and hurt of having my original artwork “taken” from me, and following a near-fatal accident, I chose hope, inspired by Madiba’s example to rise above the emotions, to learn from this experience and to and pour my energy into creating new works to share freely with the world.

I returned to Vancouver not long ago to fulfil my dream of completing my studies at Emily Carr University and graduated in May 2013. After the accident, I had given up hope of ever returning to Canada to complete my studies, but my inspiration was renewed by creating and sharing these new works, and I had the courage to do what deep inside I had been longing to do. I felt ready to take the next step.

I am grateful to Madiba for this amazing life lesson wrapped inside an art lesson. Working so closely on translating his life journey into art, manifesting the spirit of his Long Walk to Freedom into my art gave me so much, the inspiration to take the next step, and the step after that ... step by step, bit by bit. Even now, after losing Madiba, my heart remains full.

Shelley Elk is a freelance writer and artist living in Vancouver. Follow her on Twitter, @shelleyelk, or visit shelleyelk.tumblr.com.

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