From my point of view, U.S. soft power diplomacy, like IVLP helped the country in the long term, by empowering future leaders and tempering the perceptions of its past and present. When change took root in South Africa, especially after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990, cadres had already been formed and were ready to take up the political, economic and social direction of the country.

The South African Pavilion in Venice presents a mix of old and new works. There’s a video of Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings and documentary footage from the Apartheid Museum – such as the sound recording of Nelson Mandela’s Rivonia trial speech, played over and over in a little booth – reminding us that the past is never far away.

Nelson Mandela died one year ago today, but his legacy lives on. He changed the image of South Africa from that of a country despised for its atrocities to a “Rainbow Nation” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s term) that protects and promotes human rights and democratic values.