“Can you combine justice with forgiveness?”
In April 1996 an extraordinary process began in South Africa. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, under its chairman Archbishop Desmond Tutu, held its first public hearings to investigate over thirty years of human rights violations under apartheid. The Commission had been founded in the belief that truth was the only means by which the people of South Africa could come to a common understanding of their past, and that this understanding was necessary if the country was to forge a new national identity in the future. In the first two years more than 20,000 victims made statements to the commissioners and, encouraged by the possibility of amnesty, some 7,000 perpetrators came forward to confess their crimes.”
This exhibition tells some of their stories. It is unique in that, through Jillian Edelstein’s photographs, it puts faces to the personal testimonies of both victims and perpetrators. In the most direct way it documents one of the most important experiments in democratic justice attempted in the 20th century.
Jillian Edelstein’s photographic work has been published and awarded internationally. She has published two books, Truth and Lies and Here and There: An Expedition of Sorts. Her book Affinities will be published in 2026. She has completed two feature documentaries, one is yet to be released.
Special Events
Exhibition Opening Party
Thursday 30 October 6-8pm
Tour and talk with the artist
Saturday 8 November 2-3pm
Special Sunday opening
Sunday 9 November 12-4pm
About the book
Stories from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa (1996 – 2002) was published by Granta in 2002 with endorsements from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Michael Ignatieff, Gillian Slovo and Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela.
About The Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a court-like restorative justice body created in South Africa in 1996 post the fall of Apartheid to create a peaceful transition, to hear the testimonies of the victims; to encourage perpetrators to come forward, to apply for Amnesty; authorised by President Mandela, chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
About the artist
Jillian Edelstein’s work has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The FT Weekend Magazine, Vanity Fair, Interview, Vogue, Port, The Guardian Weekend, The Sunday Times Magazine, Time and others. She has exhibited internationally including London’s National Portrait Gallery, The Photographers’ Gallery, Royal Academy, Imperial War Museum, Royal Photographic Society, Sothebys, Les Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie Arles, Bensusan & Robben Island Museums in South Africa and Dali International Photography Festival, Yunnan Province, China, Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Rasselmania, Hildesheim, Germany, Photo North, Leeds and Photo Oxford 2025. Jillian has worked with organisations including Oxfam, FXB International, Unicef, Save the Children Fund, Tesco, Nespresso, Sony, National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aviva, Tesco, BBC, Comic Relief and Fish Love.
Awarded an Honorary Fellowship RPS, John Kobal Book Award for her book Truth and Lies 2003, other awards include Kodak UK Young Photographer of the Year, Photographers’ Gallery Portrait Photographer of the Year, Visa d’Or/International Festival of Photojournalism, Perpignan 1997, European Final Art Polaroid Award, selected AI-AP, Latin American Fotografia 4, World Press Awards, LensCulture Portrait Awards, Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, Portrait of Humanity, Portrait of Britain. Jillian has completed and won Impact Awards on her feature documentary called the Water Rats about group of wild cold water swimmers during the Covid lockdown. She is in the final edit/filming of her feature documentary Fever about the BiPolar afflicted, Academy Award nominated American screenwriter, Norman Wexler, who wrote the iconic films of the 70’s including Serpico, Joe, Saturday Night Fever. Jillian was the Keynote speaker for International Women’s Day 2025.
Credits
Photo credit: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, TRC Chairman. 1999 Copyright Jillian Edelstein
