William Kentridge
Artist, filmmaker and theatre maker
By South African Index Editorial Desk · Published
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William Kentridge is a Johannesburg-born artist whose practice spans drawing, animation, film, theatre and opera. He received the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver in 2007. [1][2]
Biography
Kentridge was born in Johannesburg in 1955. His studio biography records a practice built across drawing, film, performance, theatre, opera and collaborative forms, with South African history and politics recurring throughout the work. [1]
From the late 1980s he developed the animated-film series Drawings for Projection, using successive charcoal drawings and erasures to create moving images. His work later expanded further into stage productions, operas, installations and large-scale projection. [1]
South African public-diplomacy material records that Kentridge received the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver in 2007 for his contribution to the arts and non-racial theatre in South Africa. His work has subsequently been exhibited and performed at major museums, galleries and theatres internationally. [2][1]
Key contributions
Developed a distinctive body of animated films from charcoal drawings and expanded that visual language across theatre, opera and installation. [1]
Contributed to South African visual art and theatre through work engaging memory, history and political life. [2][1]
Career timeline
Sources
- William Kentridge Studio, Biography. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-24. ↩
- Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Africans in World War I: artist William Kentridge’s epic theatre production restores forgotten histories. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-24. ↩