Artist Yiull Damaso Under Fire for His Portrait of a Dead Nelson Mandela, ANC Says it is Racist

Artist Yiull Damaso under fire for his painting portraying a dead Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa and political prisoner by apartheid government for 27 years, sparks outrage.

A painting portraying a dead Nelson Mandela has sparked controversy in South Africa. The painting, which was completed by artist Yiull Damaso, shows Mr. Mandela undergoing an autopsy. The African National Congress has vehemently condemned the painting, calling it racist and compared its theme to witchcraft. They have also said it violates Mr. Mandela's dignity. According to the NY Daily News, it is considered taboo in South Africa to talk publicly about Mandela's death because of his iconic international status. The ANC argues that the painting violates Mandela's dignity.

Damaso begs to differ. He told BBC that he is trying to make people confront death. Really? Did he have to do so with Nelson Mandela as his subject? Absolutely despicable. I scarcely believe it will take a painting of a dead Nelson Mandela for the people of South Africa, who have lived through apartheid and the Sharpeville Massacre, to learn how to confront death.

The painting is a take on Rembrandt's 17th century masterpiece "The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp."In Damaso's rendition, Mandela lies on a table as Nkosi Johnson, an AIDS activist who died at the age of 12, is stripping the flesh from the former South African president's left arm. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former presidents FW de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki, and politicians Helen Zille and Trevor Manuel are among the spectators.

"We have Nelson Mandela, one of the great leaders of our time, and the politicians around him are trying to find out what makes him a great man," Damaso told the Guardian. "Nkosi Johnson, the only one in the painting who's no longer alive, is trying to show them that Mandela is just a man. So they should stop searching and get on with building the country." Source

Nelson Mandela is one of our greatest leaders of all time and Mr. Damaso owes him the respect that he is due. This painting is an affront to what he stands for and to the people of South Africa. We all know he is going to die sooner or later, but to unveil a painting with his death as the theme while he is alive is nothing short of disgraceful.

Photo credit:  Yiull Damaso's Death Nelson Mandela, THEKISO/Getty