William Kentridge

The artist portrays the glories and tragedies of the Eternal City along the banks of the Tiber river in Rome.

Alan Yentob joins South African artist William Kentridge as he prepares an epic frieze along the banks of the river Tiber in Rome. Alan visits him in his hometown of Johannesburg, the inspiration for the magical hand-drawn animated films he calls 'drawings for projection'. Brought up under apartheid, Kentridge has witnessed the fragile transition to a multi-racial democracy, and his art continues to reflect South Africa's turbulent times.

Based on Dada artist Kurt Schwitters’ 1932 sound poem Ursonate, consisting entirely of a nonsense, invented language, Kentridge’s work is comprised of two film projections: one in which the artist emphatically gesticulates as he sounds the score accompanied by an opera singer and percussionist, while a constant flow of animated calligraphic images drawn by Kentridge are projected on the second screen.