One of Matthew Willman’s photos of Nelson Mandela.

THE life and legacy of President Nelson Mandela is being celebrated at the Hilton Arts Festival, which runs from September 15 to 17 at Hilton College.

Winner of the best youth production at the 2016 Naledi Theatre Awards, Making Mandela takes theatre-goers on an imaginative journey through Mandela’s childhood.

The play, which can be seen in the Memorial Hall at 12.30 pm on Saturday, September 16 and 10 am on Sunday, September 17, features an array of colourful characters, vividly portrayed using beautiful masks, physical performances and emotive sound design.

Making Mandela begins in 1918 with the birth of Rolihlahla Madiba Mandela and the Afrikaner Broedebond. Over 70 minutes the audience can watch the story of these two opposing forces who will one day confront each other in a battle for the freedom of South Africa. Tickets are R150.

A scene from ‘Making Mandela’. Photo: Sanmari Marais

Another unmissable attraction at the festival is A Life Less Ordinary, a lecture by documentary photographer, Matthew Willman, who spent many years taking photos of Mandela.

Willman will take the audience on a journey behind the scenes of working with one of the most famous men in South Africa and around the world.

Willman’s lecture will take place in lecture theatre B at 1 pm on Saturday, September 16. Tickets are R80.

Willman will also be giving a talk titled, A Significant Life, in which he shares his decision to commit his life to finding Mandela.

In 1995, at the age of 15, when he was in boarding school there was only one thing holding his life together and that was his dream to one day meet Madiba.

This lecture takes the audience through his nine-year journey to shake the great man’s hand and his subsequent 10 years working as a commissioned photographer for the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

During the talk he will share never before seen images and reveal amazing stories from his journey.

The talk takes place at 10 am on Sunday, September 17 in lecture hall B. Tickets are R80.

Tickets for all three events can be booked online at http://www.hiltonfestival.co.za