William Kentridge

The Triumphs and Laments of William Kentridge

Alan Yentob joins South African artist William Kentridge as he prepares an epic frieze along the banks of the river Tiber in Rome. Alan visits him in his hometown of Johannesburg, the inspiration for the magical hand-drawn animated films he calls 'drawings for projection'. Brought up under apartheid, Kentridge has witnessed the fragile transition to a multi-racial democracy, and his art continues to reflect South Africa's turbulent times.

William Kentridge, Triumphs and Laments

The artist portrays the glories and tragedies of the Eternal City along the banks of the Tiber river in Rome.

Ursonate

Based on Dada artist Kurt Schwitters’ 1932 sound poem Ursonate, consisting entirely of a nonsense, invented language, Kentridge’s work is comprised of two film projections: one in which the artist emphatically gesticulates as he sounds the score accompanied by an opera singer and percussionist, while a constant flow of animated calligraphic images drawn by Kentridge are projected on the second screen.

Journey to the Moon

In KENTRIDGE’s cross-disciplinary, cross-media world of artistic creation, images are not merely background supporting characters for theatre or installations, but are seen as an important intermediary to understanding the world. Taking Plato’s ‘Allegory of the Cave’ as an example, he feels that the prisoners in the cave believed the shadows on the wall represented reality not because they were controlled by hallucinations, but because silhouettes projected onto walls by firelight were the beginning of mankind’s understanding of the meaning of the world.