KABOOM!

As a white South African and the son of prominent anti-apartheid attorneys who were deeply engaged with the uneven realities of politics and race in that country, William Kentridge challenges us to consider what it means to be an “African artist” in the 21st century. He skillfully uses a diverse range of media, including theater, opera, film, sculpture, prints, and drawings. Many of his works incorporate and show his eraser marks, revisions, and layering process. 

KABOOM! explores the story of the nearly two million African porters and carriers used by the British, French, and Germans during the First World War. This work includes a “sculptural diorama” that is placed on a shelf in front of the video. Cut-out shapes of human silhouettes and rock formations/landscapes are strategically interwoven into a layered, time-based presentation. The artist’s use of animation combined with the diorama are part of his signature style of using mixed media in a single work while also emphasizing the importance of looking closely and questioning what we are shown and what we are told.

This work of art speaks to the themes that repeatedly appear in Kentridge’s work, specifically relating to the construction and deconstruction of time, memory, geography, and history. As Kentridge himself notes, the process of recording history involves constructing from reconfigured fragments to arrive at a short-term understanding of the past.