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Notations/William Kentridge: Tapestries

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Recipient

Grant Year 2007

Grant Amount $150,000

Status

Updated May 3, 2017

The Philadelphia Museum of Art organized Notations/William Kentridge: Tapestries, the first exhibition of the South African artist William Kentridge's tapestries to be presented in the US. Kentridge created a series of woven works using locally spun mohair, in collaboration with the Johannesburg-based Stephen Tapestry Studio. The imagery, originating from Kentridge's drawings, was comprised of shadowy figures made from ripped construction paper that were collaged onto 19th-century atlas maps. The works evoked the political and cultural volatility characterizing recent South African history, while alluding to a global condition of transit and transition. Filling two galleries, the ten tapestries hung alongside Kentridge's related drawings, bronze sculptures, etchings, and an artist book. The exhibition was the fourth and most ambitious installment of the Museum's "Notations" series, providing the organization an opportunity to challenge its traditional interpretive strategy.

Recipient