SOUTH AFRICA: Death threats made against artist depicting dead Nelson Mandela

Record ID: 169848

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Death threats made against artist depicting dead Nelson Mandela
  • Date: 11th July 2010
  • Summary: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (JULY 10, 2010) (REUTERS) PAINT BRUSHES AND PALLETTE ARTIST YIULL DAMASO'S INTERPRETATION OF REMBRANDT'S 'THE ANATOMY LESSON BY DOCTOR TULP' ON DISPLAY IN SHOPPING MALL, SHOWING DEAD NELSON MANDELA SURROUNDED BY WELL KNOWN SOUTH AFRICANS YIULL DAMASO TALKING TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC IMAGE OF NELSON MANDELA LYING DEAD IMAGE OF ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU IMAGE OF SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA AND POLITICIAN TREVOR MANUEL YIULL DAMASO TALKING TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC DISCUSSING THE PAINTING WITH DAMASO (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST YIULL DAMASO SAYING: "It started off with just an idea with friends in a discussion, the idea of the painting and depicting Nelson Mandela being dissected by some politicians. Each time I brought up the idea in conversation everybody got so involved in who should and should not be in the painting" PAINT BRUSHES YIULL DAMASO TALKS TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC (SOUNDBITE) (English) IMAGE VIEWER BELLA HEARTSTEIN SAYING OF MANDELA'S DEATH: "That would be a sad day for the world, not only for South Africa, for the world when he goes. So why look at death when life and especially now when we are in the media with the football and the rugby and who knows what. To see a picture -- (TURNING TO DAMASO) I'm sorry I am pulling you apart, he is lying there gone. We don't want to see him like that, we want to see him say 'let's be together, let's fight together to have a beautiful country'" YIULL DAMASO'S INTERPRETATION OF THE ANATOMY LESSON BY DOCTOR TULP ON DISPLAY IN SHOPPING MALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) IMAGE VIEWER NOSI MILO SAYING: "I think that it is a great piece of art, it's sort of startling when you stumble into it but when you start engaging with the artist and he explains his drawings and what he is alluding to it makes you think that we could learn from his life and we could learn from him" IMAGE SHOWING NELSON MENDELA'S ARM BEING DISSECTED (SOUNDBITE) (English) YIULL DAMASO SAYING: "I was being interviewed on a national radio channel last night in conjunction with the institute of free speech and there were callers coming in and giving their point of view and a couple of them said that they want to kill me" MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC LOOKING AT PAINTING DAMASO PAINTING DEPICTING NELSON MANDELA AS A BOXER
  • Embargoed: 26th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA91J5YBKRGEYPTQWI92MYUFM4V
  • Story Text: On the eve of the soccer World Cup Final in Johannesburg a local artist has become the focus of media attention and intense public debate after displaying a canvas portraying former South African President Nelson Mandela lying dead with his body being dissected by some of his political contemporaries.
    Sitting in front of his work at the Hyde Park shopping mall on Saturday (July 10), artist Yiull Damaso told Reuters that the idea for the painting came about in discussions with his friends.
    "It started off with just an idea with friends in a discussion, the idea of the painting and depicting Nelson Mandela being dissected by some politicians. Each time I brought up the idea in conversation everybody got so involved in who should and should not be in the painting," Damaso said.
    The painting, which is based on Rembrandt's 'The Anatomy lesson of Doctor Tulp', provoked a mixed reaction from members of the public -- including death threats.
    Shopper Bella Heartstein said: "We don't want to see him like that. We want to see him say 'let's be together, let's fight together to have a beautiful country'."
    The painting shows high profile South African political figures such as current President Jacob Zuma and Archbishop Desmond Tutu gathered around the body of Mandela whilst child HIV activist Nkosi Johnson performs a dissection on the corpse.
    "I think that it is a great piece of art, it's sort of startling when you stumble into it but when you start engaging with the artist and he explains his drawings and what he is alluding to it makes you think that we could learn from his life and we could learn from him," shopper Nosi Milo told Reuters.
    Damaso said he had received threats to his life when taking part in a radio phone-in show.
    There were callers coming in a giving their point of view and a couple of them said that they want to kill me," he said.
    Damaso is still putting the finishing touches to the painting and is yet to decide if he will put it on sale.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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