William Kentridge: That which we do not remember

Described as one of the most powerful voices in art today, William Kentridge emerged as an artist during the apartheid regime in South Africa.

That which we do not remember, an exhibition curated by the artist himself, traces the arc of Kentridge’s thirty-year career and draws connections between the myriad aspects of his work including drawing, collage, stop-motion animation, performance, theatre, tapestry and sculpture.

Memory, its excavation and erasure, lies at the heart of his practice. As Kentridge explains, ‘One understands that there is a very narrow band of memory in which we can survive. If we forget everything, as in a kind of dementia or Alzheimer’s, it’s very difficult to function in the world. But if we remember everything, we’re also paralysed by trauma, by memory.’

Lauded by critics and visitors alike during its premiere at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, William Kentridge: That which we do not remember features loans from the artist’s studio and from the collection of Naomi Milgrom AO. Ingeniously installed as a series of intimate encounters, the exhibition has been designed by Sabine Theunissen, who has worked with Kentridge since 2005.

The exhibition is accompanied by the publication William Kentridge: that which we do not remember, which includes a conversation between the artist and Cape Town writer and playwright Jane Taylor

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