MEDIA RELEASE 26 September 2006 Johannesburg celebrates 100 years of Gandhi's peaceful struggle Johannesburg will soon celebrate the 100th anniversary of the peaceful struggle for human rights initiated by Mahatma Gandhi in the city in 1906. October 2, Gandhi's birthday will see the opening of an exciting new exhibition entitled Gandhi: Prisoner of Conscience, at Constitution Hill. The exhibition is on display in Number Four, the notorious 'Native Jail' and the first of many prisons in which Gandhi was incarcerated in South Africa and India. A Century ago Mahatma Gandhi created a new form of peaceful protest, which he applied to powerful effect against the white rulers in South Africa, and later the colonial masters in India. Known as Satyagraha (truth force or Passive Resistance), this new style of politics empowered Gandhi followers to resist injustice in non-violent ways that demonstrate the superior morality of the protesters. Gandhi: Prisoner of Conscience focuses on the years Gandhi spent in the fast-changing frontier town of Johannesburg from 1902 until 1914. It was in Johannesburg that Gandhi's main transformation from a shy and inexperienced lawyer into an extraordinary political leader took place. Given the exhibition's location, the special emphasis is on Gandhi's experiences inside jail and how these impacted on his evolving philosophy of Satyagraha. The displays illustrate how the time that Gandhi spent in Number Four and other jails in South Africa had a profound impact on his thinking. The jail experience brought Gandhi into close contact with Satyagrahis from many different walks of life as well as to African prisoners. It gave him the space and time to read and learn other languages. This was all critical in the development of Gandhi's universalist values, as well as a political language that cut across the race and class divides. Gandhi believed that going to jail was a necessary part of this struggle. He believed that the physical suffering he endured would make him stronger and more determined in this moral cause. In his autobiography, Gandhi described jail as 'a palace'. He loved the 'solitude and peace' of prison as this gave him 'the opportunity and time for meditation'. All in all, Gandhi spent some 2 338 days inside a jail cell in South Africa and India. Visually, the exhibition charts Gandhi's transformation from a besuited lawyer into a 'prisoner of conscience' and then ultimately, just before his return to India, a man wearing a simple khadi cotton tunic. The gradual shedding of his smart attire, as represented in the images on display, mirrors his growing identification with the poor and oppressed. The exhibition invites viewers to engage with the meaning and impact of Gandhi and the non-violent resistance movement in South Africa. Viewers are asked what cause they would be prepared to go to jail for. They are asked to draw the connection between Satyagraha and the passive resistance struggles that followed under the banner of the African National Congress that brought freedom to South Africa. The exhibition will stand in honour and commemoration of one of the most famous inmates of Number Four. The exhibition has been commissioned by the City of Joburg and has been supported by the Gandhi Centenary Committee. The production of the exhibition has been managed by the Johannesburg Development Agency and the Constitution Hill. ENDS ____________________________________________________________ Constitution Hill is a unique mixed-use development in the Inner City of Johannesburg and the new home of the Constitutional Court, the protector of our basic rights and freedoms. Constitution Hill is also the site of Johannesburg's notorious Old Fort Prison Complex, commonly known as Number Four, where thousands of ordinary people were brutally punished before the dawn of democracy in 1994. Many of South Africa's leading political activists, including Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, were detained here. In addition to the permanent exhibitions, interactive experiences and educational programmes, Constitution Hill offers venues for hire, a full calendar of public programmes and exhibitions that bring the site to life and enable the public to connect with the activities of the Constitutional Court. ____________________________________________________________ Issued by: Nthatisi Modingoane Media Liaison Officer CITY OF JOHANNESBURG Tel: (011) 407 7354 Fax: 403 3494 Cell: 082 467 9228 E-mail: nthatisem@joburg.org.za