Journal
A sporadic record of what happens in William Kentridge’s studio, in video, words and images
OPENING TONIGHT IN BERKELEY
“The Great Yes, The Great No”
Zellerbach Hall
Berkeley
March 14 to 16, 2025
A chamber opera by William Kentridge, commissioned by LUMA Foundation, in partnership with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
Creative team
Concept | Director: William Kentridge
Associate Directors: Nhlanhla Mahlangu | Phala O. Phala
Choral Composer: Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Music Director: Tlale Makhene
Dramaturg: Mwenya Kabwe
Costume Design: Greta Goiris
Set Design: Sabine Theunissen
Lighting Design: Urs Schönebaum | Elena Gui
Projection Editing | Compositing: Žana Marović | Janus Fouché | Joshua Trappler
Cinematography: Duško Marović
Video Control: Kim Gunning
Performed and created by
Performers: Xolisile Bongwana, Hamilton Dhlamini, William Harding, Tony Miyambo, Nancy Nkusi, Neil McCarthy
Dancers: Thulani Chauke & Teresa Phuti Mojela
Chorus: Anathi Conjwa, Asanda Hanabe, Zandile Hlatshwayo, Khokho Madlala, Nokuthula Magubane, Mapule Moloi,Nomathamsanqa Ngoma
Musicians: Marika Hughes (Cello), Nathan Koci (Accordion | Banjo), Tlale Makhene (Percussion), Thandi Ntuli (Piano)
Produced by
THE OFFICE performing arts + film
A project of the Centre for the Less Good Idea
Lead commissioner
LUMA Foundation, Arles, France
Co-Commissioners
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami USA; CAL Performances, Berkeley USA; Centre d’Art Battat, Montreal Canada; The Wallis Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills USA
Foundational commissioning support for the development and creation of “The Great Yes, The Great No” provided by Brown Arts Institute, Brown University
Toured in partnership Quaternaire
Support for this performance is provided by The Great Yes, The Great No Council for Kentridge.
Lead Sponsors: The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation; Nadine Tang
Major Sponsors: Bob Ellis (March 15); Janice and Nicholas E. Brathwaite (March 15)
Sponsors: The Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation; Divesh & Diksha Makan
Additional support is provided by Helen Berggruen for Five Arts Foundation, John Berggruen, and Diana Nelson and John Atwater
Commissioning support is provided by William and Sakurako Fisher
Video: Workshop for “The Great Yes, The Great No”, Johannesburg 2024
OPENING TONIGHT IN BERKELEY
“The Great Yes, The Great No”
Zellerbach Hall
Berkeley
March 14 to 16, 2025
A chamber opera by William Kentridge, commissioned by LUMA Foundation, in partnership with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
Creative team
Concept | Director: William Kentridge
Associate Directors: Nhlanhla Mahlangu | Phala O. Phala
Choral Composer: Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Music Director: Tlale Makhene
Dramaturg: Mwenya Kabwe
Costume Design: Greta Goiris
Set Design: Sabine Theunissen
Lighting Design: Urs Schönebaum | Elena Gui
Projection Editing | Compositing: Žana Marović | Janus Fouché | Joshua Trappler
Cinematography: Duško Marović
Video Control: Kim Gunning
Performed and created by
Performers: Xolisile Bongwana, Hamilton Dhlamini, William Harding, Tony Miyambo, Nancy Nkusi, Neil McCarthy
Dancers: Thulani Chauke & Teresa Phuti Mojela
Chorus: Anathi Conjwa, Asanda Hanabe, Zandile Hlatshwayo, Khokho Madlala, Nokuthula Magubane, Mapule Moloi,Nomathamsanqa Ngoma
Musicians: Marika Hughes (Cello), Nathan Koci (Accordion | Banjo), Tlale Makhene (Percussion), Thandi Ntuli (Piano)
Produced by
THE OFFICE performing arts + film
A project of the Centre for the Less Good Idea
Lead commissioner
LUMA Foundation, Arles, France
Co-Commissioners
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami USA; CAL Performances, Berkeley USA; Centre d’Art Battat, Montreal Canada; The Wallis Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills USA
Foundational commissioning support for the development and creation of “The Great Yes, The Great No” provided by Brown Arts Institute, Brown University
Toured in partnership Quaternaire
Support for this performance is provided by The Great Yes, The Great No Council for Kentridge.
Lead Sponsors: The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation; Nadine Tang
Major Sponsors: Bob Ellis (March 15); Janice and Nicholas E. Brathwaite (March 15)
Sponsors: The Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation; Divesh & Diksha Makan
Additional support is provided by Helen Berggruen for Five Arts Foundation, John Berggruen, and Diana Nelson and John Atwater
Commissioning support is provided by William and Sakurako Fisher
Video: Workshop for “The Great Yes, The Great No”, Johannesburg 2024
William Kentridge
Carlton Centre Games Arcade
A new publication by Steidl
BOOK LAUNCH
Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Saturday 8 March, 2025
11am
There will be an informal conversation between William Kentridge, Gerhard Steidl and Lunetta Bartz.
The completion of William Kentridge’s Domestic Scenes (2021) and Catalogue Raisonné Volume 1. Prints and Posters 1974–1990 (2022), both published by Steidl, was an opportunity for Warren Siebrits to pause and take another more intimate look at a series of prints, singular and influential in Kentridge’s œuvre, titled “Carlton Centre Games Arcade” (1977).
The Carlton Centre in Johannesburg, owned by the mining company Anglo American, was the most expensive and prestigious hotel and shopping complex on the African continent at the time, and was just a short walk from Kentridge’s father’s legal practice. It is then no surprise that this complex was where he decided to begin the process of observational drawing which would lead to Kentridge’s first prolonged engagement with intaglio printing.
Not only is this book an opportunity for all Kentridge enthusiasts to catch a glimpse of this never before exhibited and little-known early series of 14 etchings, but it also gives the reader a further taste of the ongoing catalogue raisonné project.
Author: Warren Siebrits
Publisher: Steidl
Design: Lunetta Bartz
Images:
1. Carlton Centre Games Arcade—A Game of Skill, 1977
Etching, aquatint and drypoint, Image: 20 x 24.8 cm
2. Carlton Centre Games Arcade—Cigarettes,1977
Etching and colour aquatint, Image: 19.2 x 24.5 cm
3. Carlton Centre Games Arcade—Five Onlookers, 1977
Etching, aquatint and drypoint, Image: 11.5 x 14.5 cm
William Kentridge
Carlton Centre Games Arcade
A new publication by Steidl
BOOK LAUNCH
Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Saturday 8 March, 2025
11am
There will be an informal conversation between William Kentridge, Gerhard Steidl and Lunetta Bartz.
The completion of William Kentridge’s Domestic Scenes (2021) and Catalogue Raisonné Volume 1. Prints and Posters 1974–1990 (2022), both published by Steidl, was an opportunity for Warren Siebrits to pause and take another more intimate look at a series of prints, singular and influential in Kentridge’s œuvre, titled “Carlton Centre Games Arcade” (1977).
The Carlton Centre in Johannesburg, owned by the mining company Anglo American, was the most expensive and prestigious hotel and shopping complex on the African continent at the time, and was just a short walk from Kentridge’s father’s legal practice. It is then no surprise that this complex was where he decided to begin the process of observational drawing which would lead to Kentridge’s first prolonged engagement with intaglio printing.
Not only is this book an opportunity for all Kentridge enthusiasts to catch a glimpse of this never before exhibited and little-known early series of 14 etchings, but it also gives the reader a further taste of the ongoing catalogue raisonné project.
Author: Warren Siebrits
Publisher: Steidl
Design: Lunetta Bartz
Images:
1. Carlton Centre Games Arcade—A Game of Skill, 1977
Etching, aquatint and drypoint, Image: 20 x 24.8 cm
2. Carlton Centre Games Arcade—Cigarettes,1977
Etching and colour aquatint, Image: 19.2 x 24.5 cm
3. Carlton Centre Games Arcade—Five Onlookers, 1977
Etching, aquatint and drypoint, Image: 11.5 x 14.5 cm
FAUSTUS IN AFRICA!
Baxter Theatre
Cape Town
26 February - 22 March, 2025
A collaboration between William Kentridge and Handspring Puppet Company and a re-working of the 1995 production of the same name.
Director
William Kentridge
Associate Director
Lara Foot
Puppetry Directors
Adrian Kohler & Basil Jones (Handspring Puppet Company)
Associate Puppetry Director
Enrico Dau Yang Wey
Design
Adrian Kohler & William Kentridge
Animation
William Kentridge
Puppet Construction
Adrian Kohler & Tau Qwelane
Puppet Costumes
Hazel Maree, Hiltrud von Seidlitz & Phyllis Midlane
Special Effects
Simon Dunckley
Set Design
Adrian Kohler
Set Construction
Dean Pitman
Set Painting & Dressing
Nadine Minnaar for Scene Visual Productions
Translation
Robert David MacDonald
Additional text
Lesego Rampolokeng
Music
James Phillips & Warrick Sony
Lighting Design & Production Management
Wesley France
Cast
Atandwa Kani, Jennifer Steyn, Wessel Pretorius
Puppeteers
Asanda Rilityana, Buhle Thembisile, Eben Genis, Mongi Mthombeni
Co-Producers
The 2025 version is produced by Quaternaire/Paris and restaged with co-production support of The Baxter Theatre Centre at the University of Cape Town (Cape Town), Centre d’art Battat (Montreal), Kunstfest (Weimar), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Théâtre de la Ville/Festival d’Automne (Paris).
The 1995 version was produced Handspring Puppet Company in association with The Market Theatre, Art Bureau (Munich), Kunstfest (Weimar), Standard Bank National Arts Festival, The Foundation for the Creative Arts, Sharp Electronics and Mannie Manim Productions.
Photo: Fiona MacPherson
FAUSTUS IN AFRICA!
Baxter Theatre
Cape Town
26 February - 22 March, 2025
A collaboration between William Kentridge and Handspring Puppet Company and a re-working of the 1995 production of the same name.
Director
William Kentridge
Associate Director
Lara Foot
Puppetry Directors
Adrian Kohler & Basil Jones (Handspring Puppet Company)
Associate Puppetry Director
Enrico Dau Yang Wey
Design
Adrian Kohler & William Kentridge
Animation
William Kentridge
Puppet Construction
Adrian Kohler & Tau Qwelane
Puppet Costumes
Hazel Maree, Hiltrud von Seidlitz & Phyllis Midlane
Special Effects
Simon Dunckley
Set Design
Adrian Kohler
Set Construction
Dean Pitman
Set Painting & Dressing
Nadine Minnaar for Scene Visual Productions
Translation
Robert David MacDonald
Additional text
Lesego Rampolokeng
Music
James Phillips & Warrick Sony
Lighting Design & Production Management
Wesley France
Cast
Atandwa Kani, Jennifer Steyn, Wessel Pretorius
Puppeteers
Asanda Rilityana, Buhle Thembisile, Eben Genis, Mongi Mthombeni
Co-Producers
The 2025 version is produced by Quaternaire/Paris and restaged with co-production support of The Baxter Theatre Centre at the University of Cape Town (Cape Town), Centre d’art Battat (Montreal), Kunstfest (Weimar), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Théâtre de la Ville/Festival d’Automne (Paris).
The 1995 version was produced Handspring Puppet Company in association with The Market Theatre, Art Bureau (Munich), Kunstfest (Weimar), Standard Bank National Arts Festival, The Foundation for the Creative Arts, Sharp Electronics and Mannie Manim Productions.
Photo: Fiona MacPherson
Remove not the old landmark
Fugitive Words, 2024
Single channel HD video
8 min 33 sec
Animation
William Kentridge
Editing
Žana Marović
Music
Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 97
“Archduke”: III. Andante cantabile
Jacqueline du Pré, Pinchas Zukerman, Daniel Barenboim
Video: Excerpt from “Fugitive Words” currently showing as part of the exhibition:
William Kentridge “History on One Leg”
December 21, 2024 – April 17, 2025
A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town
A browsable selection of Kentridge’s notebooks made over the past fifteen years, shown alongside a new flipbook film, tools, materials and ephemera which focus on the process of making work in the studio.
Curated by
Josh Ginsburg
William Kentridge
Remove not the old landmark
Fugitive Words, 2024
Single channel HD video
8 min 33 sec
Animation
William Kentridge
Editing
Žana Marović
Music
Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 97
“Archduke”: III. Andante cantabile
Jacqueline du Pré, Pinchas Zukerman, Daniel Barenboim
Video: Excerpt from “Fugitive Words” currently showing as part of the exhibition:
William Kentridge “History on One Leg”
December 21, 2024 – April 17, 2025
A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town
A browsable selection of Kentridge’s notebooks made over the past fifteen years, shown alongside a new flipbook film, tools, materials and ephemera which focus on the process of making work in the studio.
Curated by
Josh Ginsburg
William Kentridge
OPENING TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES
“The Great Yes, The Great No”
The Wallis Center
for Performing Arts
Beverley Hills
February 5 to 8, 2025
A chamber opera by William Kentridge, commissioned by LUMA Foundation, in partnership with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
Creative team
Concept | Director: William Kentridge
Associate Directors: Nhlanhla Mahlangu | Phala O. Phala
Choral Composer: Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Music Director: Tlale Makhene
Dramaturg: Mwenya Kabwe
Costume Design: Greta Goiris
Set Design: Sabine Theunissen
Lighting Design: Urs Schönebaum | Elena Gui
Projection Editing | Compositing: Žana Marović | Janus Fouché | Joshua Trappler
Cinematography: Duško Marović SASC
Video Control: Kim Gunning
Performed and created by
Performers: Xolisile Bongwana, Hamilton Dhlamini, William Harding, Tony Miyambo, Nancy Nkusi, Neil McCarthy
Dancers: Thulani Chauke & Teresa Phuti Mojela
Chorus: Anathi Conjwa, Asanda Hanabe, Zandile Hlatshwayo, Khokho Madlala, Nokuthula Magubane, Mapule Moloi,Nomathamsanqa Ngoma
Musicians: Marika Hughes (Cello), Nathan Koci (Accordion | Banjo), Tlale Makhene (Percussion), Thandi Ntuli (Piano)
Produced by
THE OFFICE performing arts + film
A project of the Centre for the Less Good Idea
Lead commissioner
LUMA Foundation, Arles, France
Co-Commissioners
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami USA; CAL Performances, Berkeley USA; Centre d’Art Battat, Montreal Canada; The Wallis Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills USA
Foundational commissioning support for the development and creation of “The Great Yes, The Great No” is provided by Brown Arts Institute at Brown University.
Toured in partnership Quaternaire
This production is made possible by generous support from:
Brenda R. Potter
Sakurako and William Fisher Family
Roy Cockrum Foundation
Joan Selwyn and Marc Selwyn, Geof and Laura Wyatt in Memory of Paul Selwyn
South Coast Plaza
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Video: Performance at LUMA Arles, July 2024
OPENING TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES
“The Great Yes, The Great No”
The Wallis Center
for Performing Arts
Beverley Hills
February 5 to 8, 2025
A chamber opera by William Kentridge, commissioned by LUMA Foundation, in partnership with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
Creative team
Concept | Director: William Kentridge
Associate Directors: Nhlanhla Mahlangu | Phala O. Phala
Choral Composer: Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Music Director: Tlale Makhene
Dramaturg: Mwenya Kabwe
Costume Design: Greta Goiris
Set Design: Sabine Theunissen
Lighting Design: Urs Schönebaum | Elena Gui
Projection Editing | Compositing: Žana Marović | Janus Fouché | Joshua Trappler
Cinematography: Duško Marović SASC
Video Control: Kim Gunning
Performed and created by
Performers: Xolisile Bongwana, Hamilton Dhlamini, William Harding, Tony Miyambo, Nancy Nkusi, Neil McCarthy
Dancers: Thulani Chauke & Teresa Phuti Mojela
Chorus: Anathi Conjwa, Asanda Hanabe, Zandile Hlatshwayo, Khokho Madlala, Nokuthula Magubane, Mapule Moloi,Nomathamsanqa Ngoma
Musicians: Marika Hughes (Cello), Nathan Koci (Accordion | Banjo), Tlale Makhene (Percussion), Thandi Ntuli (Piano)
Produced by
THE OFFICE performing arts + film
A project of the Centre for the Less Good Idea
Lead commissioner
LUMA Foundation, Arles, France
Co-Commissioners
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami USA; CAL Performances, Berkeley USA; Centre d’Art Battat, Montreal Canada; The Wallis Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills USA
Foundational commissioning support for the development and creation of “The Great Yes, The Great No” is provided by Brown Arts Institute at Brown University.
Toured in partnership Quaternaire
This production is made possible by generous support from:
Brenda R. Potter
Sakurako and William Fisher Family
Roy Cockrum Foundation
Joan Selwyn and Marc Selwyn, Geof and Laura Wyatt in Memory of Paul Selwyn
South Coast Plaza
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Video: Performance at LUMA Arles, July 2024
Making the drawing “Enough” (2025)
Paint, Indian ink, charcoal and collage on canvas
250 x 242 cm
Part of the current exhibition, “To Cross One More Sea” at Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
25 January - 20 March, 2025
Making the drawing “Enough” (2025)
Paint, Indian ink, charcoal and collage on canvas
250 x 242 cm
Part of the current exhibition, “To Cross One More Sea” at Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
25 January - 20 March, 2025
OPENING TODAY
“To Cross One More Sea”
William Kentridge
Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
25 January - 20 March, 2025
Video: Extract from “To Cross One More Sea”, 2024
Three channel HD film installation,
two megaphone speakers on tripods
19 min 10 sec
Editor
Janus Fouché
Associate Editors
Joshua Trappler
Žana Marovič
Composers
Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Tlale Makhene
Music created and performed by:
Chorus
Anathi Conjwa, Asanda Hanabe, Zandile Hlatshwayo, Khokho Madlala, Nokuthula Magubane, Mapule Moloi, Nomathamsanqa Ngoma
Musicians
Marika Hughes (Cello), Nathan Koci (Accordion | Banjo), Tlale Makhene (Percussion), Thandi Ntuli (Piano)
Sound Recording
Gavan Eckhart
OPENING TODAY
“To Cross One More Sea”
William Kentridge
Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
25 January - 20 March, 2025
Video: Extract from “To Cross One More Sea”, 2024
Three channel HD film installation,
two megaphone speakers on tripods
19 min 10 sec
Editor
Janus Fouché
Associate Editors
Joshua Trappler
Žana Marovič
Composers
Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Tlale Makhene
Music created and performed by:
Chorus
Anathi Conjwa, Asanda Hanabe, Zandile Hlatshwayo, Khokho Madlala, Nokuthula Magubane, Mapule Moloi, Nomathamsanqa Ngoma
Musicians
Marika Hughes (Cello), Nathan Koci (Accordion | Banjo), Tlale Makhene (Percussion), Thandi Ntuli (Piano)
Sound Recording
Gavan Eckhart
“Paper Procession IV”, 2025
Painted steel, Edition of 5
Installed in the gardens of @goodman_gallery Johannesburg, in advance of the opening of “To Cross One More Sea” on Saturday the 25th of January, 2025.
“Paper Procession IV”, 2025
Painted steel, Edition of 5
Installed in the gardens of @goodman_gallery Johannesburg, in advance of the opening of “To Cross One More Sea” on Saturday the 25th of January, 2025.
‘William Kentridge: Creative Machines’
A Cabinet by Noémia Herdade-Gomes and Francisco Providência
Herdade-Gomes and Providência see Kentridge’s rotating sculptures, such as ‘Construction for Waiting for the Sibyl (Tree / Typewriter)’ as a “playful trivialisation of a ‘miracle’ “ and describe “the surprising epiphany of chaos transformed into order” as the observer “experiences the pleasure of witnessing a ‘miracle’, which becomes as predictable as it is false.”
Explore the second series of ‘Creative Machines’, now live on Kentridge Studio website:
https://www.kentridge.studio/william-kentridge-creative-machines/
‘William Kentridge: Creative Machines’
A Cabinet by Noémia Herdade-Gomes and Francisco Providência
Herdade-Gomes and Providência see Kentridge’s rotating sculptures, such as ‘Construction for Waiting for the Sibyl (Tree / Typewriter)’ as a “playful trivialisation of a ‘miracle’ “ and describe “the surprising epiphany of chaos transformed into order” as the observer “experiences the pleasure of witnessing a ‘miracle’, which becomes as predictable as it is false.”
Explore the second series of ‘Creative Machines’, now live on Kentridge Studio website:
https://www.kentridge.studio/william-kentridge-creative-machines/
