WILLIAM KENTRIDGE
WHY SHOULD I HESITATE: PUTTING DRAWINGS TO WORK

The work of the South African artist, filmmaker, and theater and opera director William Kentridge (*1955 in Johannesburg) will be presented in a major exhibition at the Deichtorhallen Hamburg from 23 October 2020 to 18 April 2021. The exhibition was conceived and organized by the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in collaboration with William Kentridge. Kentridge deals with topics such as social injustice, the history of South Africa, colonialism, family, refuge, and displacement in a wide variety of media. However, his artistic practice always begins with drawing, which is the main medium and focus of the exhibition.

William Kentridge is one of the world’s most important contemporary visual artists and has also made a name for himself internationally as a theater and opera director. Having grown up as a child of parents who fought apartheid in South Africa, world politics is part of Kentridge’s own biography and oeuvre. His works visualize the sociocultural effects of post-colonialism and apartheid from the perspective of his home country.

The exhibition Why Should I Hesitate: Putting Drawings to Work offers a comprehensive overview of the entire oeuvre of the South African artist and, according to Kentridge, is the largest presentation of his work to date. It features works spanning over 40 years of artistic production, including drawings, animated films, videos, prints, sculptures, tapestries, and large-scale installations.

This exhibition is conceived and organized by Zeitz MOCAA in collaboration with William Kentridge

Curators
Azu Nwagbogu, Chief Curator (Zeitz MOCAA 2018–2019)
Tammy Langtry, Assistant Curator (Zeitz MOCAA)
Studio William Kentridge

Exhibiton design
Sabine Theunissen, Brussels