One of the most exciting events of Design Indaba this year will be the South African premier of William Kentridge’s multi-media stage masterpiece, Refuse the Hour at the Cape Town City Hall. The 80-minute opus interweaves an astonishing range of visual and sound languages that include live narrative by Kentridge, dance performed and choreographed by Dada Masilo, an original score by Philip Miller performed by the Cape Town Chamber Opera, all set against a backdrop of video projections by Catherine Meyburgh.
Kentridge’s narrative begins with the ancient Greek myth of Perseus and ends with Einstein amidst a Dadaist pandemonium of sounds and images. An international cast of twelve, including dancers, musicians, performers and vocalists accompany him on his journey to the limits of science, ontology and cosmology, combining performance, theatre, opera, contemporary dance, visual installations and video projections in an unforgettable aesthetic and philosophic stage dream. The performance will transport viewers into the mind of South Africa’s leading living artist, allowing them to experience Kentridge’s art, thinking and process in a singular, evocative way.
Refuse the Hour is the theatrical accompaniment to the 5-channel video installation, The Refusal of Time (made in collaboration with Philip Miller, Catherine Meyburgh and Peter Galison), presented by the Goodman Gallery in association with Design Indaba that will be exhibited at the Iziko National Gallery in Cape Town from 20 February to 21 June 2015.
Kentridge has exhibited, among others, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Musée du Louvre in Paris and Documenta in Kassel, Germany, and has presented his productions at venues such as La Scala in Milan, The New York Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall.
Dates: 26 and 27 February 2015
Venue: Cape Town City Hall
Ticket price: R400 & R650
Tickets are sold through Computicket.
In addition to the Refuse the Hour performances and the exhibition of The Refusal of Time, Kentridge will also give a performance lecture about his work on stage at the Design Indaba Conference 2015, as well as give a talk with his brother, Matthew Kentridge, about The Soho Chronicles films and the book that Matthew recently authored on the subject. The presentation will take place in the Events Arena at the Design Indaba Expo on Saturday, 28 February, from 15:00-16:00 and will be followed by a book signing.
This is a fantastic opportunity to experience the work of South Africa’s most prominent artist first hand in a range of dynamic interactions. Founder and CEO of Design Indaba, Ravi Naidoo says that this is “just one of several projects that Design Indaba is currently supporting as we increasingly shift our focus from just providing a platform to being an enabling cultural producer.”
