William Kentridge: I am not me, the horse is not mine

Bozar presents a major exhibition devoted to William Kentridge (b. 1955 in Johannesburg), one of today’s most influential artists. Spanning four decades, the show is constructed around several significant stage productions and brings together Kentridge’s drawings, animated films, sculptures, prints, installations, and videos together with newly-made site-specific wall drawings.

The exhibition I am not me, the horse is not mine highlights the performative and collaborative nature of his work, revealing how art becomes a space for political inquiry, historical reckoning, and poetic transformation. Rather than a conventional retrospective, curator Tarek Abou El Fetouh has conceived the exhibition as a musical score in several movements, inspired by the hybrid forms, rhythmic shifts, and compositional structures of Kentridge’s stage productions. As he explains: “This exhibition unfolds as a musical composition, weaving together William Kentridge’s drawings, animations, and stage works into a dynamic, non-linear journey. The boundaries between mediums dissolve, histories intertwine, inviting us to experience art as inquiry, memory, and poetic possibility.”

As Bozar's first Grand Invité, or special guest, Kentridge’s influence extends across the 2026-2027 season, with concerts, performances and talks, including collaborations from Johannesburg’s Centre for the Less Good Idea. 

Political and poetic transformation
Kentridge began his artistic career during South Africa’s struggle against apartheid. His work reflects a deep social, political, and poetic commitment that continues to inform his practice today. While rooted in South African history, his art opens onto broader reflections on human contradictions, cycles of violence, and the potential for change.

Over four decades, Kentridge has developed an artistic language in which images, ideas, and forms are set in constant motion. Drawings morph into animations; animations become installations or migrate onto the stage; images and objects reappear in new arrangements. This cross-media transformation is a hallmark of his practice. As he explains: “I make drawings and sometimes the drawings are filmed and become animated films. Sometimes there are performers in front of the animated film and they become theatre or opera. So it becomes a drawing in four dimensions.”

The world itself is irrational
Absurdity is a lens through which Kentridge confronts political and historical realities that defy simple explanation. He notes: “The absurd is, in a way, a form of realism. When the world itself is irrational, describing it in purely rational terms can be misleading. Absurdity follows flawed logic to its extreme conclusions, revealing the underlying contradictions.” From his ongoing engagement with Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi to explorations of Gogol’s The Nose, Kentridge uses absurdity to expose contradictions beneath seemingly rational systems.

The central role of the studio
At the heart of Kentridge’s practice is his Johannesburg studio, which the Bozar exhibition evokes both spatially and conceptually. It is a place of drawing and experimentation, as well as rehearsals, editing, fabrication, and design. Kentridge’s drawings expand into a collective process involving actors, musicians, singers, designers, visual artists, editors, and technicians.

Brussels: a relationship spanning four decades
Brussels is familiar territory for Kentridge. His relationship with the city spans more than thirty years, and Brussels has hosted the premieres and early tours of several of his productions. In 1995, the city premiered his now-legendary Faustus in Africa! In 1998, Bozar presented Kentridge’s first institutional solo exhibition in Europe.

His return in 2026 continues—and reassembles—a longstanding artistic relationship.

Events
Highlights tour William Kentridge: September 18, 2026–March 7, 2027
BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts

The Centre for the Less Good Idea: November 28
BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts

SIBYL—William Kentridge: December 13–14
deSingel

William Kentridge, Matthias Goerne & Markus Hinterhäuser: April 14, 2027, 8–10pm
BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts