gezeichnete Figuren mit Megafonen in der Hand laufen vor einem grauen Hintergrund
© William Kentridge

William Kentridge. Listen to the Echo

William Kentridge (*1955, Johannesburg) is one of the world’s most influential contemporary artists. His medium is drawing. It forms the creative basis for animated films, prints, collages, sculptures, tapestries, kinetic objects, and puppet theatre plays, resulting in an impressive and diverse body of works. This year, he celebrated his 70th birthday – prompting the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden to organise a major exhibition festival in honour of this South African artist.

Video

Ausgangspunkt

Kentridge came to international prominence in the late 1980s for his animated short films dealing with the South African apartheid regime. These films, which are based on large-format charcoal drawings, form the starting point for an extensive and diverse body of works that encompasses drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and tapestry, as well as opera productions and multimedia stage plays. The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden will be presenting Kentridge’s work in several locations at the same time.

In der Puppentheatersammlung

For almost an entire year, the Puppentheatersammlung in Dresden’s Kraftwerk Mitte is hosting The Centre for the Less Good Idea, which was founded by Kentridge and Bronwyn Lace in Johannesburg. In experimental and interdisciplinary works, the collection’s puppets will be brought to life. New sound and video installations are displayed alongside, or incorporating, historical museum pieces – for example, from the collection’s shadow theatre section. Works by Kentridge as a puppet theatre director and creator of animated objects are also on show.

drei Männer halten Puppen in die Luft
© The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Foto: Zivanai Matangi
Workshop im Centre for the Less Good Idea
Exhibition of the Puppentheatersammlung at the Kraftwerk Mitte
06/09/2025—28/06/2026

William Kentridge. Listen to the Echo

A Resonance Room for People and Puppets

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© The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Foto: Zivanai Matangi

Tickets

Ticket valid for: Special exhibition “William Kentridge. Listen to the Echo” (06.09.2025—28.06.2026) at the Puppentheatersammlung, more tickets (e.g. combined tickets with the exhibition at Kupferstich-Kabinett and Albertinum) available in our ticket shop

normal7 €
reduced5 €
groups (10 persons and more)6 €
under 17free
from 1.4.2026: pupils (under 20 years)2 €
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Program

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Katalog

publication accompanying the exhibition

William Kentridge. Listen to the Echo

edited by: Museum Folkwang Essen and Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, 272 pages, ISBN 978-3-96999-476-4, publication date 26.09.2025, price: 38 €

William Kentridge. Listen to the Echo
further information

Biography William Kentridge

Mann hinter Lautsprechern
© Kentridge Studio, Foto: Norbert Miguletz
Information for journalists

Press area

gezeichnete Figuren mit Megafonen in der Hand laufen vor einem grauen Hintergrund
© William Kentridge

3er Teaser

archive

Im Albertinum

Saxon margraves, electors, and kings await Kentridge at the Albertinum. Mounted on horseback, accompanied by a few subjects, they form the Dresden “Procession of the Princes”. In the exhibition, they encounter a procession of shadowy human forms in the cinematic installation titled “More Sweetly Play the Dance” (2015), in which the figures move through a barren landscape guided by the lively sounds of a brass band. A second film, “Oh to Believe in Another World” (2022), addresses the limited durability of utopias. Drawing directly on the music of Dmitri Shostakovich, Kentridge has created a fictional collage of images that closely illustrates the rise and fall of the Russian avant-garde during four decades of Soviet rule, revealing the fragile relationship between power and art.

To the website

William Kentridge, scene from "Oh To Believe in Another World", 2022
© William Kentridge
William Kentridge, scene from "Oh To Believe in Another World", 2022

Im Residenzschloss

At the Residenzschloss, the Kupferstich-Kabinett is showcasing the versatility of his printmaking oeuvre. This medium powerfully expresses Kentridge’s innate interest in creative processes and collaboration. Whether on a huge or a small scale, the woodcuts and etchings are made using radically experimental techniques and address the issue of social and individual change. They focus on the theme of procession and the ambivalence of triumph and lament. Prints from the museum’s collection complement the presentation and broaden perspectives on the subject in relation to both history and the present day.

Zeichnung von zwei Personen in Anzügen, deren Köpfe Kaffeekannen sind
© William Kentridge, Courtesy Item Editions, Paris, Foto: Nicolas Brasseur
William Kentridge, I Look in the Mirror, I Know What I Need, 2024

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Das Logo von arte in orangefarbenen Buchstaben auf einem weißen Hintergrund
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cooperation partner Foot Power

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Weißer Schriftzug "Kulturstiftung des Bundes" auf schwarzem Hintergrund
Schwarzer Schriftzug "Freunde der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden e.V."

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weitere

Further Exhibitions

Kupferstich-Kabinett

in Residenzschloss

Portrait eines Mannes mit Hut und Vollbart

Art from the Romantic period to the present day

in Albertinum

Portrait einer Frau vor schwarzem Hintergrund

Puppentheatersammlung

in Kraftwerk Mitte

Besucherinnen in der Ausstellung an einer Schublade

Porzellansammlung

in Zwinger

Teekanne aus Porzellan
All Exhibitions

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