Biography

WILLIAM Kentridge was born in Johannesburg in 1955.

His parents were both lawyers who specialised in defending the victims of apartheid.

Sir Sydney Kentridge played a leading role in cases such as the Treason Trial, as counsel for the defence of Nelson Mandela, and the inquest into the death of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko.

Kentridge studied politics and African studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he graduated in 1976. He subsequently enrolled in fine arts at the Johannesburg Art Foundation. He moved to Paris in the 1980s to study theatre at the Jacques Lecoq International Theatre School and worked as an artistic director in television series before beginning to create animations.

Since the 90s, he has combined the practice of drawing with film and theatre, becoming a multidisciplinary artist who has also cultivated scenography, collage, engraving, sculpture and video art.

He became known abroad after his participation in the documenta X art exhibition held in Kassel (Germany, 1997).