{"id":76282,"date":"2019-09-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/art50.net\/why-should-i-hesitate-by-william-kentridge-cape-town-2\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:34:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:34:22","slug":"why-should-i-hesitate-by-william-kentridge-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/why-should-i-hesitate-by-william-kentridge-cape-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Should I Hesitate: by William Kentridge \u2013 Cape Town"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The largest ever exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist William Kentridge opens in Cape Town on 24th August. This major exhibition is hosted simultaneously in two parts by the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), which will host his multi-media works; and at Norval Foundation, which will present his sculptural works.<\/p>\n\n

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Why Should I Hesitate: Putting Drawings to Work, Zeitz MOCAA<\/strong><\/h3><\/h3>\n\n
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24 August \u2013 23 March 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Curated by: Azu Nwagbogu and Tammy Langtry<\/p>\n\n

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Why Should I Hesitate: Putting Drawings to Work, hosted at Zeitz MOCAA, will stage a large oeuvre of Kentridge\u2019s 40-year career, showing works including charcoal drawings, woodcut prints, stop-frame animation, tapestries, installation and video. In addition, the exhibition will pay particular attention to the role of studio practice in Kentridge\u2019s career.<\/p>\n\n

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\u201cWhen conceptualising this exhibition, we wanted to do more than simply attempt to condense many of Kentridge\u2019s projects from his illustrious career into one space. It was vital to unpack Kentridge and reveal more of his processes and how two-dimensional forms assume life. We also wanted to offer a sort of \u2018backstage\u2019 view of the artist on his journeys and his experimentations, and sometimes at his most uncertain and vulnerable,\u201d explains Azu Nwagbogu, curator of the exhibition.<\/p>\n\n

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WK – Drawing from Felix in Exile 1994<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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The exhibition title, Why Should I Hesitate, is taken from the artist\u2019s recent opera, The Head and the Load (2018), which explores some of the paradoxes of Africa\u2019s involvement in the First World War. This question was first posed by an African soldier who had a difficult choice: accept conscription \u2013 leaving behind the security of his home, to risk his life in a war far away from his home of which he has little knowledge \u2013 or reject conscription and face certain persecution. Read in the context of Kentridge\u2019s studio practice, Why Should I Hesitate is, therefore, a question that stresses the importance of process over procedure or product. It is an attempt to draw out the artist\u2019s work from the uncertainties of legend, so it can be understood within the context of our ever-changing cultural climate: an exercise that resists inertia but is necessarily framed by doubt.<\/p>\n\n

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\u201cWhile Kentridge remains dedicated to a South African narrative, his projects pose humanist questions of other such similar historical failures and other utopic possibilities for success. In this way, the exhibition may be viewed as a historiographic reading of the world over the last century,\u201d adds Tammy Langtry, curator of the exhibition.<\/p>\n\n

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Due to the breadth of the artists creative practice, the exhibition spans five independent spaces throughout Zeitz MOCAA \u2013 Level 3, Level 1, Centre for the Moving Image, BMW Atrium, and a nighttime projection in the Track Shed.<\/p>\n\n

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WK – Invention of Africa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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It will be supported by a number of public programmes and events, including a symposium on 27 October that will bring together leading figures in the art world to extend the important dialogue and thematic concerns emanating from Kentridge\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n

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About Zeitz MOCAA<\/strong><\/h3><\/h3>\n\n
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Zeitz MOCAA is a public not-for-profit contemporary art museum that collects, preserves, researches and exhibits 21st-century art from Africa and its diaspora; hosts international exhibitions; develops supporting educational and enrichment programmes; encourages intercultural understanding; and guarantees access for all. Galleries are dedicated to a large cutting-edge collection; special exhibitions; and Centres for Art Education, Curatorial Training, Performative Practice, Photography and the Moving Image. Zeitz MOCAA was established through a partnership between the V&A Waterfront led by CEO David Green \u2013 acting on behalf of Growthpoint Properties Limited and the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), represented by the Public Investment Corporation Limited (PIC) \u2013 and collector Jochen Zeitz. The building was reimagined through a design by the acclaimed London- based Heatherwick Studio.<\/p>\n\n

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For more about\u00a0Zeitz MOCAA please\u00a0click<\/mark><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

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Why Should I Hesitate: Sculpture, Norval Foundation<\/strong><\/h3><\/h3>\n\n
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24 August \u2013 23 March 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Curated by: Karel Nel, Owen Martin, Talia Naicker, Vicky Lekone<\/p>\n\n

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Norval Foundation will present the first survey of internationally acclaimed artist William Kentridge\u2019s sculptural practice, opening in Cape Town in August.<\/p>\n\n

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In Why Should I Hesitate: Sculpture, visitors will encounter a range of new and historical artworks that have been produced over the last two decades, which narrate Kentridge\u2019s engagement with three- dimensional form. Running from 24 August 2019 to 23 March 2020, Norval Foundation\u2019s exhibition will coincide with a complimentrary exhibition Why Should I Hesitate? Pu ing Drawings To Work, at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, which takes Kentridge\u2019s drawing practice as its focal point.<\/p>\n\n

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Exhibition<\/strong><\/h3><\/h3>\n\n
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Why Should I Hesitate: Sculpture will be the first exhibition internationally to address Kentridge\u2019s output as a sculptor, and is a unique focus on this aspect of his practice. Covering several bodies of work, and testifying to his longstanding improvisation when handling three-dimensional form, this exhibition sees the origins of these works in props from his operas and images from his animations stepping o the stage and out of the screen, confronting us directly at ground level. Why Should I Hesitate: Sculpture will also premiere new works commissioned for this exhibition.<\/p>\n\n

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Courtesy of Norval Foundation and by Dave Southwood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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A central concern of Why Should I Hesitate: Sculpture is an understanding that Kentridge\u2019s sculptures have agency. Kinetic sculptures make use of megaphones on survey tripods, a de nod to Russian Constructivism, and imply a propogandist\u2019s broadcasting of an impersonal and mechanical authority. In Singer Trio (2018), for example, \u2018ready-made\u2019 sewing machines are given voices for a performance enacted in unison, their megaphones synchronised as they take on a new and humorous presence in this world.<\/p>\n\n

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Courtesy of Norval Foundation and by Dave Southwood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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Many of Kentridge\u2019s sculptures embody an animated spectacle. Proceeding through a seemingly random construction of abstract planes, as in World on its Hind Legs (2009), we see how graphic forms unexpectedly align, snapping into an organized whole which is visually and metaphorically charged. Move a li le further, and the form dissipates once again.<\/p>\n\n

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Elsewhere, Kentridge\u2019s repertoire of everyday objects and o -the-cu ideas are translated into rows of small bronze sculptures, syntactically arranged on a shelving unit to read as lines of text on a page. In Paragraph II (2018), horse, nose, jug, camera, megaphone and others, line up to seemingly make rebuses, those visual puzzles evoking words which so delighted the early Surrealists.<\/p>\n\n

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Courtesy of Norval Foundation and by Dave Southwood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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Several pieces from Kentridge\u2019s visual lexicon have been reworked into scaled-up plaster prototypes from which monumental bronze sculptures have been cast: a gigantic corkscrew, a collapsing jug of Cubist descent, a visual ourish in the form of an ampersand, and the intense presence of an enormous cin\u00e9 camera \u2013 the observing alter ego of Kentridge\u2019s prodigious output perhaps?<\/p>\n\n

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\"Courtesy
Courtesy of Norval Foundation and by Dave Southwood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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The ruptured narrative, so powerfully visible in Kentridge\u2019s work, is choreographed into serried dislocations which collide the space between the personal and the political, the operatic and the mundane, the apparently irrelevant and the socially pertinent. Approaching Kentridge\u2019s sculptures opens us up onto a Dadaist landscape, which both challenges and beguiles.<\/p>\n\n

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\"Courtesy
Courtesy of Norval Foundation and by Dave Southwood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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\u2013 Karel Nel, K\u0131demli Dan\u0131\u015fman K\u00fcrat\u00f6r, Norval Vakf\u0131.<\/p>\n\n

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\u201cNorval Foundation is presenting, for the rst time, an exhibition focused solely on William Kentridge\u2019s sculptural practice, working in conjunction with the artist and his studio. Kentridges\u2019 sculptures embrace a spontaneous approach and have recently evolved towards the massive, and the monumental. Simultaneously, and in tension to the monumental aspects of his practice, he is revealed to be a choreographer as much as a sculptor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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\u2013 Elana Brundyn, CEO, Norval Vakf\u0131.<\/p>\n\n

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Events<\/h3>\n\n
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Why Should I Hesitate: Sculpture is accompanied by a programme of talks and performances with the artist and leading voices in the cultural sector, including a collaboration with pianist and composer Kyle Shepherd which will take place Thursday 19 September at 19:30 in Norval Foundation\u2019s atrium. A series of member and public events will take place on the opening weekend, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 August 2019.<\/p>\n\n

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\"Courtesy
Courtesy of Norval Foundation and by Dave Southwood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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About William Kentridge<\/strong><\/h3><\/h3>\n\n
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William Kentridge is internationally acclaimed for his drawings, films, theatre and opera productions. His practice is born out of a cross-fertilisation between mediums and genres, and responds to the legacies of colonialism and apartheid. His aesthetics are drawn from the medium of lm\u2019s own history, from stop-motion animation to early special e ects. Kentridge\u2019s drawing, speci cally the dynamism of an erased and redrawn mark, is an integral part of his expanded animation and lmmaking practice.<\/p>\n\n

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Kentridge\u2019s work has been seen in museums and galleries around the world since the 1990s, including Documenta in Kassel, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Mus\u00e9e du Louvre in Paris, Whitechapel Gallery in London, Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen and the Reina So a museum in Madrid. Opera productions include Mozart\u2019s The Magic Flute, Shostakovich\u2019s The Nose, and Alban Berg\u2019s Lulu, and have been seen at opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera in New York; La Scala in Milan; English National Opera in London; Opera de Lyon, France; Amsterdam Opera, The Netherlands, amongst others. Summer 2017 saw the premiere of Kentridge\u2019s production of Berg\u2019s Wozzeck for the Salzburg Festival.<\/p>\n\n

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The Head & the Load, sometimes described as a processional opera (with original music by composers Philip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi), opened to critical acclaim in London and New York in 2018. <\/p>\n\n

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Kentridge is the recipient of honorary doctorates from several universities including Yale and the University of London, and in 2012 he presented the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard University. In 2010, he received the Kyoto Prize. In 2015 he was appointed an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy in London. In 2017, he received the Princesa de Asturias Award for the Arts, and in 2018, the Antonio Feltrinelli International Prize.<\/p>\n\n

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Courtesy of Norval Foundation and by Dave Southwood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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About Norval Foundation<\/strong><\/h3><\/h3>\n\n
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Norval Foundation is a centre for art and cultural expression, dedicated to the research and exhibition of 20th and 21st century visual art from South Africa and beyond. Located in the Steenberg area of Cape Town, adjacent to Table Mountain National Park, Norval Foundation combines the experience of art with an appreciation for nature. The Sculpture Garden, outdoor amphitheatre, purpose-built exhibition spaces and research library\u2028are situated in a unique se ing that o ers visitors a multisensory experience. This is complemented by The Skotnes Restaurant and Bar, a bespoke shop and a children\u2019s playground. Norval Foundation aims to create high-quality exhibitions and public programming to broaden our understanding of the visual arts. Norval Foundation is honoured to be the custodian of the Gerard Sekoto Foundation, the Edoardo Villa Estate Collection and the Alexis Preller Archive. Norval Foundation supports the belief that art has the power to enrich our lives and that artists contribute to our communities in a profound way. The Norval family are the founders and initial funders of Norval Foundation and their aim is to make art widely accessible.<\/p>\n\n

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For more about Norval Foundation please click<\/mark><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

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The largest ever exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist William Kentridge opens in Cape Town on 24th August. This major exhibition is hosted simultaneously in two parts by the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), which will host his multi-media works; and at Norval Foundation, which will present his sculptural works. Why Should I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1456,"featured_media":75435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1833],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1456"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76282"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76286,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76282\/revisions\/76286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art50.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}