120 Years in 120 Objects
Join the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in celebrating the museumโs 120th year of orbiting the sun. Staff and guest curators have chosen one object or item per year of our existence to highlight to the public. Visit the website and our social media platforms regularly to see the latest object and keep an eye out for information about a physical exhibition later this year!
Todayโs Object is from 2006
Madiba Shirt by Heather Frost, Senior Exhibitions Officer
In 1994, the father of the nation, Nelson Mandela, wore a hand-printed batik shirt designed by Desre Buirski to a dress-rehearsal for the opening of the first democratic parliament. Over the years, Madiba would wear many printed, embroidered and hand-painted shirts that became iconic of the man himself. This shirt, designed by Sonwabile Ndamase, is a replica of the shirt Mandela wore when he received the Freedom of the City of Pietermaritzburg in 1997. Ndamase was the keynote speaker at the opening of the Mandela Centenary exhibition in 2018. He kindly donated the shirt to the museum collection.
The Director of the KwaZulu-Natal National Museum, Mr Luthando Maphasa (left), greets Sonwabile Ndamase (Right), the designer of the Madiba Shirt on exhibit at the museum.
