Kentridge began working on the opera three years earlier, producing etchings, drawings, small bronzes, tapestries, films and a theatrical monologue in which he performed. In GIPCA’s Great Texts / Big Questions lecture Kentridge will revisit his exploration of Gogol’s story (written in 1836) and Shostakovich’s music (first performed in Leningrad in 1930 before being suppressed and not seen again until 1974).
In 2009 Kentridge was listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 people that most affect the world. He has earned international acclaim for his interdisciplinary work, which combines visual art, theatre and film. He uses different mediums to explore oppression, colonialism, conflict and reconciliation, addressing the social, political and cultural landscape.
Kentridge’s work has been shown in numerous solo exhibitions at museums and galleries around the world. He has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Arts (MoMA) in New York several times. MoMA is currently presenting ‘William Kentridge: Five Themes’, a comprehensive survey of his distinguished career, featuring over 120 works created during the past three decades in a range of mediums – animated film, drawings, print, books and theatre models.
The Nose is not Kentridge’s first foray into opera; his production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) premiered in Brussels in 2005 and its global tour included New York, Naples and Johannesburg.
Dr Rob Baum, director of UCT’s Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) said they are honoured to be hosting so distinguished a speaker, “Part of what GIPCA intends to achieve in South Africa is to highlight interdisciplinary art and make it accessible to a broader audience. To host an artist of Kentridge’s stature, an artist who has raised the profile of interdisciplinary work to such a level, with so global an effect, and with such joyous imagination, is a great privilege.”
GIPCA’s Great Texts / Big Questions lectures are open to the public, UCT staff and students and start at 17h00 in Hiddingh Hall, on UCT’s Hiddingh Campus, Orange Street, in the heart of Cape Town’s CBD.
William Kentridge audio recording available for download.
William Kentridge video recordings:
Start: 8 Apr ’10 5:00 pm
End: 8 Apr ’10 6:30 pm
Cost: Free
Category: Great Texts / Big Questions
Organizer: GIPCA
Email: fin-gipca@uct.ac.za
Venue: Hiddingh Hall
Phone: +27 21 480 7156
Address: Google Map UCT Hiddingh Campus, 31-37 Orange Street, Cape Town, 8001, Cape Town, Western Cape, 8001, South Africa