Mandela's defiant drawings

Stark symbols of oppression, the latest artworks by Nelson Mandela offer a fascinating glimpse into his incarceration on Robben Island.

Despite the bleak subject matter, the former South African president uses bright colours to depict how courage overcame adversity.

Accompanying each picture are hand-written notes by Mr Mandela.

He describes the hospital as a vital link with the rest of the world, where news trickled through to inmates.

'Today I remember the stark hospital wards with fondness,' he adds. 'These memories, like this sketch, are filled with joyous colours.'

Playing tennis in jail was 'a strange sensation, enjoying such civilised hobbies in such an uncivilised place'.

Mr Mandela, now in his 80s, spent 17 years in the apartheid regime's maximum security prison.

Proceeds from print sales, at London's Belgravia Gallery, will help HIV and children's charities in South Africa.