This presentation of two short films, made some twenty years apart, offers a window into the creative processes of celebrated South African artist William Kentridge.
Journey to the Moon, 2003, (7:10 min) is a playful response to the 1902 Georges Méliès film Le Voyage dans la Lune. It follows Kentridge (and his coffee cup) from the studio into his own drawn world, whilst Fugitive Words, 2024,(8:33 min) unfolds entirely within the pages of one of Kentridge’s notebooks. A process of drawing and erasure produces fleeting words and shifting images that combine to form an evolving landscape of history and memory.
This is the first time Fugitive Words has been shown in the UK. We are very grateful for the support of the William Kentridge Studio and Goodman Gallery in bringing both works to CAST.
We would also like to thank Louisiana Channel, Denmark, for permission to show William Kentridge: Making Sense of the World, 2014 (30 min), an interview in which the artist reflects on his practice and the making of several works including Journey to the Moon. The interview is showing on loop on a monitor in the entrance to the main screening space. It is also available online:
William Kentridge (b.1955) is known for a collaborative way of working that prioritises thinking together with fellow practitioners skilled in their disciplines (for example, as composers or dancers). Kentridge often appears in his own work performing the character of the artist working. Most often he is someone who draws, in charcoal, in pencil and pencil crayon, and in ink.