William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance

Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean presents a new exhibition of the work of William Kentridge (b. 1955, Johannesburg). The exhibition, developed for Mudam as part of Luxembourg’s red bridge project, presents new and recent drawings, sculptures, sound and film works.

A central theme within the exhibition is Kentridge’s continued engagement with the construction of meaning, through visual composition, language, sound, and time—as studio time, historic time, and operatic time. The exhibition revolves around Kentridge’s new work for the stage, Waiting for the Sibyl (2019), co-commissioned by the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and Dramaten in Stockholm as a companion work to the 1968 opera, Work in Progress, by Alexander Calder (b. 1898, Lawnton, Pennsylvania; d. 1976, New York).

The exhibition at Mudam includes the films Sibyl (2020) and City Deep (2020), the most recent in his Drawings for Projection, reprising the figure of Soho Eckstein. Both films are presented as part of a constellation of large and small-scale drawings, works on paper and sculptures that reveal the transformative potential of Kentridge’s dynamic visual lexicon. Sculpture is given a particular focus within the exhibition, as an ongoing activity in the work of Kentridge, its provisional forms, both assembled and cast, and as a source of projection that rejoins the language of silhouette and shadow play. The spatial disposition of their display designed by Kentridge’s long-time collaborator, Sabine Theunissen, serves as metaphor for the prolific activity of the artist’s studio.

The acclaimed multichannel and multi sensorial projection More Sweetly Play the Dance (2015) in Mudam’s expansive West Gallery presents a dramatic shadow procession of people and history in an exuberant danse macabre led by choreographer and dancer Dada Masilo. Presented in Mudam’s Grand Hall is the sound installation, Almost Don’t Tremble (2019), produced by Kentridge in collaboration with composers Philip Miller, Neo Muyanga, Kyle Shepherd, Waldo Alexander, and Nhlanhla Mahlangu, and the monumental drawing Shadow (2021), created by the artist in response to the architecture of the museum and realised in situ in collaboration with the ÉSAL – École supérieure d’art de Lorraine.

William Kentridge. More Sweetly Play the Dance is part of the second edition of Luxembourg’s red bridge project, an interdisciplinary collaboration between Mudam Luxembourg, Philharmonie Luxembourg and Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg. A programme of performances and special events will accompany the exhibition. 

Curator Suzanne Cotter, assisted by Christophe Gallois and Nelly Taravel
Exhibition design Sabine Theunissen, assisted by Julie Vandendael 

Publications
Waiting for the Sibyl
Mudam Luxembourg has collaborated on the publication of a new artist’s book, Waiting for the Sibyl. William Kentridge’s latest flipbook film and series of drawings were produced in preparation for his new opera project, Waiting for the Sibyl, which premiered at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in September 2019 and will be presented at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg from 11th to 13th June 2021. The book comprises text taken from the libretto of the chamber opera, alongside images and phrases that are projected on different size screens in the opera. 

Publishing Walther König, 2020 | Available at mudamstore.com
ISBN 978-3-96098-865-6

À pas de panthère
The first French translation of a series of conversations between William Kentridge and writer Denis Hirson, dating from 2010 and ongoing, that have grown out of a friendship that stretches back to the 1980s and that is deeply entwined in the fortunes of Johannesburg, the city where they both grew up, and South Africa, the country that is the wellspring of their work.

Co-publishing Mudam Luxembourg, Éditions Dilecta, 2021 | French Edition 
Available from April 2021 at mudamstore.com
ISBN 978-3-96098-865-6

Events

Screening
Carte blanche to William Kentridge: short animations by Naomi van Niekerk
March 14, 2021 | 10am-6pm | Mudam Auditorium 
For this year’s annual collaboration with the Luxembourg City Film Festival, Mudam has given carte blanche to William Kentridge who has suggested the work of the young South African director, Naomi van Niekerk. A selection of short animations will be screened at Mudam Auditorium. In collaboration with the Luxembourg City Film Festival.

Screening
William Kentridge: Anything is Possible
April 18, 2021 | 4pm | EN | Mudam Auditorium
An intimate look into the mind and creative process of William Kentridge whose acclaimed and diverse works have made him one of the most dynamic and exciting contemporary artists working today. Directed by Charles Atlas and Susan Sollins.

Performance
Joanna Dudley: A Guided Tour of the Exhibition: For Soprano with Handbag
May 15, 2021 | 4pm | EN
May 16, 2021 | 11am-4pm | EN
Conception: Joanna Dudley and William Kentridge
Performance: Joanna Dudley
Curator for the presentation at Mudam: Joel Valabrega
In the framework of the Luxembourg Museum Days.

Complete programme: mudam.com
red bridge project: redbridgeproject.lu

Media partner: Luxemburger Wort
With the support of: Banque Degroof Petercam Luxembourg
Loo & Lou Foundation, under the aegis of the Fondation de Luxembourg.

Also on view 
Leonor Antunes. joints, voids and gaps through April 5, 2021 
Cabrita / Cerith Wyn Evans | The Mudam Collection and The Pinault Collection in Dialogue through April 5, 2021
Me, Family | Online platform through June 30, 2021
Portrait of a Young Planet | Mudam Collection through September 13, 2021
25 years of the Mudam Collection | Mudam Collection through April 3, 2022

Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean opened in 2006 in a purpose-built building designed by the renowned Sino-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei and is located in the Park Draï Eechelen, overlooking the historic city of Luxembourg. Through its collection, exhibitions, artistic and educational programmes and partnerships, Mudam Luxembourg aims to advance its mission to present the most relevant contemporary art of our time to the largest possible public.