Postcard – Multi-Colour William Kentridge Drawing For Head & Load A5

William Kentridge was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Kentridge, who is celebrated internationally for his prints, animated films, drawings and theatre productions, continues to live and work in Johannesburg. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and African Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, together with a diploma in Fine Arts from the Johannesburg Art Foundation. As a former aspiring actor, he also studied mime and theatre at the L’Ecole the Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand (2004).

Drawing from Head and the Load undertakes a forensic examination of Africa’s involvement in the Great War (First World War). It addresses the so-called Great War and its impact on Africa in the colonial era. Two million Africans were used as porters during the war, carrying various accoutrements of war from one part of the continent to another. In the end, there were over a million African casualties, most of them civilians. Until very recently, much of this history was obscured, denied or intentionally overlooked. These scenes of the idyllic landscape are disrupted by the red incisions, represent the journey, deaths and eventual discoveries of the colonial project.

Drawing for The Head & the Load. 2017 – 18. Charcoal and coloured pencil on paper 42 x 160 cm.