William Kentridge

Stories are told in many ways: written, visual, theatrical, musical. Through film and performance, William Kentridge creates visual narratives that explore both personal and universal themes. Kentridge suffuses difficult historical moments, including the exodus of the Jews from Czarist Russia, with the intimacy of his own lived experience such as the period of apartheid in South Africa. Kentridge’s animated films, History of the Main Complaint (1996) and Johannesburg, 2nd Greatest City After Paris (1991), blend personal and fictional elements. Each film depicts the conditions provoked by apartheid and reflect the brutality of this period in South African history.

* How do films and animation lend themselves to storytelling and narrative differently than a drawing, painting, or sculpture does?

* How does art investigate the past? How do artists interpret history in new ways?

Source: Art21
http://www.art21.org