'Mandela My Life: The Official Exhibition' coming to Auckland's Eden Park

Hundreds of items documenting and celebrating Nelson Mandela's life are coming to NZ. Photo / Keith Bernstein.

More than 200 original artefacts, artworks and personal items documenting the life of Nelson Mandela are making their way to New Zealand to give Kiwis a rare glimpse into the icon's personal life.

Mandela My Life: The Official Exhibition is on a five-year worldwide tour, and will touch down at Auckland's Eden Park this April.

The venue is particularly notable as the sporting ground is where flour bombs were dropped in 1981, in an anti-apartheid protest and the ongoing imprisonment of Mandela.

The multi-million dollar, 800m2 exhibition was produced in full collaboration with the South Africa-based Nelson Mandela Foundation and also features items from Mandela's private collection, making it the most comprehensive collection to ever be shown outside of South Africa.

The exhibition will provide visitors with a multi-sensory, interactive and emotive journey through various chapters of Mandela's life, each representing a defining moment in both his identity and politics.

It features a detailed physical replica of his prison cell, manuscripts from his writings from prison and the pen with which he signed away apartheid.

It also includes 16 paintings by world famous artist, John Meyer, depicting key moments in Mandela's life.

The exhibition will be open daily from 10am at Eden park from April 13 until August 4.

Tickets go on sale from 9am tomorrow via ticketek. Adults are $27.50 with concessions for students and seniors, and children under 16 are free. See Ticketek.co.nz for tickets or MandelaTheExhibition.com for more information.