Bust of Nelson Mandela by Ian Walters
This larger-than-life tribute to the anti-apartheid campaigner first arrived at our site in 1985
Outside the Royal Festival Hall, on the aptly named Mandela Walk, stands the magnificent Bust of Nelson Mandela, a tribute to the South African anti-apartheid campaigner who changed the world.
The sculpture sits atop a polished stone plinth inscribed with the words ‘The struggle is my life’. This was the declaration Mandela made when announcing he would not hand himself over to South African police for arrest.
He had already been imprisoned for 20 years in 1982, when the London-based artist Ian Walters (1930 – 2006) created this work. He cast it in lightweight bronze resin so it could be transported to anti-apartheid rallies and events.
In October 1985, the bust was given a permanent home outside the Royal Festival Hall.
Location
Mandela Walk
At the time of the bust’s placement here, Mandela had widespread support among the British public, but racist hate groups repeatedly attacked the sculpture. Just over a year after it was unveiled, it was destroyed with fire.
Walters was commissioned to cast a new version, this time in bronze. The new Bust of Nelson Mandela was installed in 1988 on a taller plinth. This is the version you can see when you visit us now.
The inscription has been updated to mark significant milestones: Mandela’s release in 1990, his Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and his inauguration as South Africa’s first Black president in 1994.
In the last decades of his life, Mandela became a much-loved figure who brought people together. This is reflected in the many visitors who pause at our bust, or take a selfie with it. After his release, Mandela went on to sit for Walters in person. This resulted in two further sculptures, including the statue which stands in across the river in London’s Parliament Square.
’Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years’ imprisonment, 11th February 1990.’
text added to the Mandela plinth following his release