WORDS OF WISDOM
Every two years the Rolex Mentors help guide young artists. We thought it was time they also divulged some of their secrets to us…
“Artists have power… and I want to use my music to br ing all peoples together.”
Youssou N’Dour, Senegalese singer, composer and producer “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
Toni Morrison, Outstanding literary figure
“A tiger doesn’t proclaim his tigr itude, he pounces.”
Wole Soyinka, Playwright, poet, novelist, essayist and humanitarian “The challenge for us is to have the heart of a poet and
the skin of an elephant.”
Mira Nair, Director, screenwriter and producer
“Drawings don’t start with ‘a beautiful mark.’ It has to stand for
an observation, not something that is abstract, like an emotion.”
William Kentridge, Artist “Now more than ever we need to talk to each other, to listen to each other and cinema is the best medium for doing this.”
Martin Scorsese, Director “The work has a complete circle
of meaning and counterpoint. Without your involvement as a
viewer, there is no story.”
Anish Kapoor, Sculptor “Through dance we can embody the most abstract ideas and thus reveal what we cannot see, what we cannot name.”
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Dancer and choreographer “Drawing is rather like playing chess: your mind races
ahead of the moves that you eventually make.”
David Hockney, Artist “Art must not stagnate. New discover ies must be made. What we discover we want to express through action.”
Saburô Teshigawara, Influential choreographer and one of the greats of contemporary dance “Art is about shar ing.You wouldn’t be an artist unless
you wanted to share an exper ience, a thought.”
Peter Sellars, American theatre, opera and festival director “There is this basic human need to do shelter. This is the core of architecture: To provide a space for human beings.”
Peter Zumthor, Architect “The only way to remain creative is to understand
the new and listen to the young.”
Sir Peter Hall, Titan of British theatre and one of the world’s great Shakespearean directors “I’ve lear nt to stop treating architecture as consisting of materials. It is more realistic to start with the problems of the people and their environment.”
Álvaro Siza Vieira, Architect
“People often want to aim for the most obvious target. I prefer to shoot the ar row, then paint the target around it.”
Brian Eno, Visionary music producer and theorist, composer, singer