At the height of the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, people all over the world were stuck by themselves (and with themselves), thinking over hard existential questions. Inside his Johannesburg studio, the South African artist William Kentridge took it a step further—making a film series in which two versions of Kentridge discuss philosophical topics and argue with each other about misremembered childhood occurrences. At times, a third Kentridge drops in to play peacemaker or explain something to the camera. Made over the span of two years and now streaming on Mubi, the nine-episode Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot (2022) combines humour and seriousness through dialogue (and monologue), animation, drawing, music and performance. A Dada-esque love letter to the studio and art-making, the series is delightfully optimistic. It is also exactly what one might expect from Kentridge in lockdown.

South African artist William Kentridge teams up with global film distributor and streaming platform MUBI to release his nine-episode film series Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot. Shot in Kentridge’s Johannesburg studio during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the series draws inspiration from Charlie Chaplin, Dziga Vertov, and the innovative spirit of early cinema. Through a collection of distinct yet interconnected vignettes, it explores themes of humor, philosophy, politics, and artistic freedom—showcasing the resilience of creativity amidst isolation. ‘I wanted to make the films in the same way I would create a drawing,’ Kentridge explains in an interview with designboom, ‘without a script, following the impulse, letting the process unfold naturally.’ Following special previews at the Toronto International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival, and a presentation at the Arsenale Institute for the Politics of Representation during the 2024 Venice Biennale, the series will be available on MUBI starting October 18, 2024.

Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) is delighted to present "A Shadow of a Shadow" from 28 September to 8 December 2024, a comprehensive survey of 17 performances by William Kentridge spanning from the late 1980s to the present. Kentridge’s first major solo exhibition in the Middle East showcases a wide range of his work, from his interpretations of King Ubu—the outrageous protagonist from Alfred Jarry’s play Ubu Roi [King Ubu] (1896)—to Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute (1791) alongside Kentridge’s original production The Head and the Load (2018) about Africa and Africans during World War I. Visitors will encounter a variety of objects and artworks produced for the development and presentation of Kentridge’s performance projects, including drawings, stage backdrops, animations, puppets, props, costumes and installations inspired by theatrical illusions.

Two in one, that’s what the Aix-en-Provence Festival is offering this year. Twice the pleasure; "The Great Yes, The Great No" is a lot, but it’s good. Relocated to LUMA Arles (from July 07 to 10, 2024), the chamber opera created by William Kentridge takes advantage of the artist’s skills as a visual artist to offer not only a lyrical performance, but also a vast exhibition, all in two of the venues of the Parc des Ateliers in Arles. The exhibition, entitled Je n attends plus (I don’t wait any longer), features several variations on a powerful theme: the failure of twentieth-century utopias and the roles played by artists in this context.

Several of the Luma's shows have the feel of a blockbuster, but perhaps none more so than William Kentridge’s "Je n’attends plus" (I Am Not Waiting Any Longer). This exhibition is an accompaniment to the South African artist’s new opera, "The Great Yes, The Great No", debuted at Luma Arles earlier this month, which puts a fantastical twist on a true story: that of a voyage from nearby Marseilles to Martinique in 1941, taken by artists and thinkers—Wifredo Lam and André Breton among them—looking to escape the ravages of war. Kentridge’s reimagining places other avant-garde artists, such as Frida Kahlo, pioneers of the anti-colonial Négritude movement, such as Aimé Cesare and the Nardal sisters, and other important figures of the time on this journey—their faces appearing as cardboard masks. "I Am Not Waiting Any Longer" takes visitors to the heart of his process: there are research materials, such as photographs taken on the actual crossing; cardboard masks scattered across a wall; and intricate maquettes of the set.

William Kentridge’s hyped "The Great Yes, The Great No" opened in Arles on Sunday as part of the Aix-en-Provence Festival [...] His installation work is intricate and theatrical, multi-layered and profound. [...] "The Great Yes, The Great No" is a work in progress. The fundamental idea, for all its complexity, is engaging. Intellectual exiles travelled aboard the Capitaine Paul-Lemerle from Marseille to Martinique in 1941, fleeing Vichy France. They included Surrealist André Breton, anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, communist novelist Victor Serge, Cuban artist Wifredo Lam and author Anna Seghers. Kentridge has mythical afterworld ferryman Charon captain the ship and tosses in anticolonialist figureheads such as Aimé and Suzanne Césaire, sisters Jane and Paulette Nardal and Frantz Fanon.

Until January 12, William Kentridge presents "Je n'attends plus" at Mécanique Générale in Arles. This abundant and generous exhibition accompanies and extends "The Great Yes, The Great No", his new world creation presented from July 7 to 10, 2024 at the Parc des Ateliers as part of a partnership between Luma Arles and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. "Je n'attends plus" takes up half of the space at the Mécanique Générale shared with the exhibition "Quand les images apprennent à parler" by Fondation A pour Les Rencontres Arles 2024.

With calls for divestiture and charges of apartheid in Gaza dominating global news, marking the 30th anniversary of South Africa’s first democratic election is timely. [...] To commemorate 30 years since this milestone, Three Decades of Democracy: South African Works on Paper at the High Museum of Art is literally and figuratively a sidebar, located in a sliver of a gallery in the Wieland Pavilion. The first step in the curatorial process of such an installation would typically be a search in the High’s collection database for South African art. The result was a selection of works by eight Black and White artists — all men. [ ...] The most famous artist in the exhibition — at least to American and European visitors — is William Kentridge. His Dancing Woman from Zeno at 4am is one of nine etchings he created to accompany a signature shadow puppet play and film Zeno Writing (whether the High owns the other eight etchings is unclear). The project draws parallels between the final years of the Austro-Hungarian empire and the South African post-apartheid regime.

In March 2009, when Strauss & Co held its inaugural live auction of important South African art in Johannesburg, the catalogue included two works on paper by the acclaimed contemporary artist William Kentridge. Both works found eager buyers. [...] The nine works on paper by Kentridge in Strauss & Co’s forthcoming Online Day Sale and live virtual Evening Sale, scheduled for 28 May 2024, endorses this reputation. Leading the offering are two high-value drawings from outstanding international projects produced at the turn of the millennium, as well as an important etching by Kentridge made in 1997.

The William Kentridge's exhibition (Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2024/05/04 - 2024/09/01) is a collaborative effort between the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) in London, showcasing Kentridge's draftsmanship as the curatorial focus. From his earliest charcoal drawing to the stop-motion short film series of drawing for the projections, and from film directing to stage performances, as well as his recent large-scale drawings of trees and flowers using ink and charcoal, the exhibition meticulously traces his creative trajectory and aesthetic dimensions. Over four decades of dedicated exploration in monochromatic expression, Kentridge has developed a fresh vocabulary of expanded translation from his drawings. In his works, the seemingly limitations of black and white breed boundless energy.

The Fondation Cartier is hosting an art center in residence unlike any other. Based in Johannesburg, The Centre for the Less Good Idea has been inviting local and international artists to create live performances collectively, in complete freedom, since 2016. It offers visual artists, writers, directors and dancers the framework to focus, together, on their creations. “We wanted to create interdisciplinary and collaborative opportunities, a place to play, experiment, take risks, doubt, fail and try again. A safe space where nothing is imposed, either in terms of form or content", explains Bronwyn Lace, visual artist, performer and co-founder of the project alongside renowned artist William Kentridge. The name of this artistic incubator sounds like a manifesto, “or more accurately, an anti-manifesto”, laughs Bronwyn Lace.

The exhibition, William Kentridge, is now open and will be on till September 1, 2024 at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) in London and it is also William Kentridge’s first time showing in Taiwan. In this episode you’ll hear from the curator of the exhibition, Adrian Locke, of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.