Running throughout October, Mandela8 and Liverpool’s Mandela Story will showcase the charity’s pioneering work with Liverpool 8 communities and the organisations and funders that have supported its journey over the past decade.
The exhibition tells a story that reaches far beyond one organisation. It explores Liverpool’s long-established Black community, the fight against racial injustice, the campaign against apartheid and the city’s part in the international movement to free Nelson Mandela.
Over the past ten years, Mandela8 has campaigned against racism, contributed to community development across Liverpool and supported international humanitarian causes.
At the heart of its work is a determination to preserve and build upon the social and humanitarian legacy of Nelson Mandela, promoting unity, education and community action for future generations.
Liverpool’s Black history
The exhibition also places Mandela8’s work within the much longer history of Black settlement in Liverpool.
Liverpool is home to one of Britain’s oldest established Black communities, whose history is closely connected with the growth of the city and its trade with Africa and the Americas during the eighteenth century.
The exhibition charts the development of Black community activism in Liverpool, including resistance to racial injustice and violence and the growing campaign against apartheid in South Africa.
It also explores Liverpool’s contribution to the international Free Nelson Mandela movement.
For Black History Month, the exhibition provides an opportunity to see how global struggles against racism and oppression became closely connected with grassroots activism within British cities.
From Dream to Reality
Following Nelson Mandela’s death in 2013, Mandela8 set out to ensure that his legacy would be permanently remembered and actively continued in Liverpool.
One of the charity’s most significant achievements has been the creation of the Mandela Memorial in the historic Grade II* registered Princes Park.
Described as a “ten-year journey from Dream to Reality”, the memorial was designed by Wayward and includes a new bridge together with a series of 32 cylinders reminiscent of a classroom.
The cylinders feature quotations from Mandela himself, reflecting his belief in education, equality and the power of people to create change.
The project created a permanent space within the city where communities can remember Mandela while also learning about the values and principles for which he stood.
The Struggle Series
Visitors to St George’s Hall will also have the opportunity to see The Struggle Series, a remarkable collection of signed lithographic prints based on five charcoal sketches by Nelson Mandela.
The works are accompanied by a handwritten motivational statement and were gifted to Mandela8 by Mandela’s daughter, Dr Makaziwe Mandela, in recognition of the charity’s work and the contribution of its partners, collaborators and supporters.
The imagery uses hands to symbolise South Africa’s journey from oppression towards democracy.
For Mandela8, the works have particular significance because they connect its community work in Liverpool directly with the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela.
The exhibition is both a celebration of what has been achieved and an invitation to consider how Mandela’s values of justice, equality, reconciliation and community remain relevant today.
Event details
Mandela8 and Liverpool’s Mandela Story
Dates: 1–31 October 2026
Opening times: Monday to Saturday, 10am–4pm
Venue: Stable Gallery, St George’s Hall, Liverpool
Admission: Free.
Find out more:
https://liverpoolcityhalls.co.uk/events/event/mandela8-and-liverpools-mandela-story/