'Mandela: The Official Exhibition' chronicles personal journey with unseen items

 The Henry Ford is about to say goodbye to an affecting exhibit, 'Mandela: The Official Exhibition,' which chronicles Nelson Mandela’s incredible journey from rural South Africa to the world stage as a freedom fighter and political leader.

 Thousands of visitors have passed through the immersive, interactive exhibit in The Gallery by General Motors since its opening in October. Jan. 15 marks the exhibit’s closing day at The Henry Ford. The exhibit heads to Grand Rapids next.

“I think people are really letting this one not affect their mind but their heart. We are seeing a wide range of emotional reactions to this,” says Cynthia Jones, The Henry Ford’s director of museum experiences, exhibitions & engagements. “This is pretty hard hitting. (Mandela is) within our own lived memory for many of us. We bring our own kind of perspective to this, but we’re learning something as well. People take an emotional journey through this exhibit.”

The traveling exhibit, which began its global tour in Europe, includes previously unseen film, photos and the display of more than 150 historical artifacts and personal items on loan from the Mandela family, museums and archives worldwide. They include many personal belongings and objects previously not seen outside South Africa.

The exhibit, Jones says, is often personal and reflective for many as they explore chapters of Mandela’s life — some they may be familiar with and others they may not.  His story, from his childhood to the struggle against apartheid to his final years as South Africa’s first democratically elected president, is chronicled through seven galleries within the 7,000-square-foot exhibit space.

The journey begins with “Meeting Mandela,” a multimedia presentation that provides an overview of his life and times, and previews of what’s ahead in the other galleries.

The second gallery, which explores Mandela’s childhood and early years, has been moving for many visitors, Jones says, noting many are more familiar with Mandela the man than Mandela the boy. That gallery shares his experiences growing up and how those experiences shaped him as a child and young man.

“When you think of someone like Nelson Mandela, you’re thinking about a global leader,” you’re not thinking of them as a child, she says. “He’s a young kid growing up in the country. We can reflect on that and see what it might have been like … Herding cattle is really where he learned some of his leadership lessons … (His childhood) is an entry point for people to wrap around.”

Especially impactful for many is the gallery exploring Mandela’s years in prison, from 1964 to 1990. Initially, there was no hope and his fate seemed to be sealed. But his personality and determination helped shape and steer a particular culture on Robben Island, the site of a prison for political prisoners.  The gallery explores how his determination and intellect set him apart.

“The years in prison really hit home for a lot of people,” Jones says. “You can experience the size of his original cell. It’s very visceral.”

 What follows is Mandela’s emergence into freedom … something visitors experience by turning the corner to see a wall of newspapers published after he walked free. “Almost all of them — it doesn’t matter if you can’t read the language — evoke the same sense of celebration of a global moment, something we don’t always share today,” she says, pondering how sharing such news today would be different over social media.

 “What would happen after he walks free? Apartheid is still happening, and at the same time, he is winning peace prizes,” she says. “We know the outcome and the story. Yet (the exhibit) is paced and puts you into the moment … that outcome was not foretold.”

The final gallery closes the exhibit with Mandela in his own words, issues he felt were important, including the AIDS crisis, poverty, housing, and education.

“All of the things that were so important to him are messages we leave on,” she says.

One of Mandela’s personal belongings, his iconic beige trench coat, stands out for Jones and others. “He wore the coat as he traveled all over South Africa and all over the world after his release from prison,” she says. “There is something about seeing the everyday … you really have a sense that this person who was so famous was just a person.”

It was important, she says, to bring this exhibit to Detroit, in part, because of its role in the Civil Rights movement and being the later-in-life home of Rosa Parks, but also because Mandela visited the Motor City during a global tour in 1995 to raise money for the anti-apartheid cause. It was a short but impactful visit, with stops at the United Auto Workers, downtown and Tiger Stadium, where a 2,000-member choir sang the South African National Anthem, freedom songs, and the late Aretha Franklin performed.

“He recognized that Detroit is and has been and will be a city important in the global freedom movement,” she says. “We really wanted to make sure we brought this exhibition here. There were a lot of people there that day. A lot of people who know that history are still living.”

'Mandela: The Official Exhibition'

9:30 a.m.-5 p.m daily

Through Jan. 15

The Henry Ford

The Gallery by General Motors

20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn

Free with membership; otherwise, $30, adults; $27, senior citizens; $22.50, youth 5-11; 4 and under, free.

Thehenryford.org

(313) 982-6001