Zakithi Buthelezi (27) and Wilmarie Deetlefs (24) kiss in his car after a night out in Johannesburg (2018). 
In recognition of three decades of South Africa’s democracy, the Apartheid Museum partnered with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Netherlands embassy to present Born Free: Generation of Hope, a photographic exhibition by Dutch photographer Ilvy Njiokiktjien in which she explores the lives of South Africa’s first generation born from the early 1990s, just as apartheid was ending.
The exhibition is curated by South African photographer Neo Ntsoma and Azu Nwagbogu, the founder of the LagosPhoto Festival and the African Artists’ Foundation.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Press-kit-Born-Free-highress-005.jpg "Jason Noah (21), who grew up middle class, arrives at a nightclub in Pretoria to celebrate his 21st. He has been successful as a foreign exchange trader (2018).")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Press-kit-Born-Free-highress-003.jpg "Bulisani Dube (25) of the Twelve Apostles Church includes the ailing and hospitalised Nelson Mandela in his prayers on a hillside above Yeoville, which overlooks downtown Johannesburg (2013).")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Press-kit-Born-Free-highress-008.jpg "Innocent Moreku (22) on an evening out in Pretoria (2018).")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Press-kit-Born-Free-highress-002.jpg "Students at Tom Naudé High School in Polokwane walk from one classroom to the next between lessons (2012).")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Press-kit-Born-Free-highress-006.jpg "People order drinks at the bar at the Pirates Bowling Club in Johannesburg. One of the bands playing that night was Desmond and the Tutus (2018).")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Press-kit-Born-Free-highress-007.jpg "Couple Ofentse Sean Lewis (left) and Sipho Lewis Maestro Azzuro sit on the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg. DM")
Born Free: Generation of Hope runs until 31 March 2025 at the Apartheid Museum. The museum is open from 9am to 5pm from Wednesday to Sunday and on public holidays.
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
