William Kentridge: Monument

About

A parable of resistance, William Kentridge’s iconic film asks us to pause and consider who has the power to commission statues in our public spaces.

A wealthy South African businessman unveils a statue for the people. It is not of himself, but surprises us by being of a worker. This is William Kentridge’s ‘Ecce Homo’ – a man, nothing more, squeezed dry. He represents the moral dilemma at the core of South Africa during the apartheid years,  which continues to resonate today. Yet through a single act of defiance, Kentridge’s statue forces the viewer to recognise the essential humanity of the man on the plinth.

South African artist William Kentridge (b.1955, Johannesburg) is renowned for his animated drawings and films exploring time, the history of colonialism and the aspirations and failures of revolutionary politics.

This screening is part of our current focus on art and its relationship to power.