Overview

A master draughtsman, illustrator, filmmaker and sculptor, William Kentridge is also a prolific theatre-maker who has collaborated with local theatre groups and world-renowned opera houses. From his interpretations of King Ubu from Alfred Jarry’s play Ubu Roi [King Ubu] (1896) to Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, to Kentridge’s original works such as The Head and the Load (2018) about Africa and Africans in World War I, A Shadow of a Shadow surveys 17 performances created across a four-decade span. This booklet contextualises the objects and artworks, on display in this exhibition, produced for the development and presentation of these performance projects: drawings, stage backdrops, animations, puppets, props, costumes and installations inspired by theatrical illusions. A Shadow of a Shadow is curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, and Tarek Abou El Fetouh, Senior Curator and Director of the Performance Department with May Alqaydi, Assistant Curator, and Khalid Mohammed, Curatorial Assistant, Sharjah Art Foundation.