An outdoor performance and screening with live music

Music composed by Philip Miller; Performed by Jill Richards, Sontonga Quartet, Adam Howard, and Tumelo Moloi

Co-produced by Public Art Fund and Ross Douglas

Prospect Park Bandshell
June 23, 2005 at 7:30 Directions
(In collaboration with Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival)

Central Park Bandshell
June 27, 2005 at 9pm  Directions

9 Drawings for Projection is an outdoor performance and film screening that brings together all of the short animated films from internationally renowned South African artist William Kentridge's Soho Eckstein series. Made between 1989 and 2003, the series follows the fictional story of Kentridge's iconic antihero, a wealthy South African mine owner, land developer, and cuckold. The nine films chronicle the rise of Soho's Johannesburg empire, his wife's passionate affair with Felix Teitlebaum, loss, love, injury, and much more, all set against the backdrop of South Africa's shifting political and social realities. In making his films, Kentridge creates an entire animation sequence from a single drawing, which he augments bit by bit, working without script or storyboard. His narratives and imagery--at once melancholy, graceful, and open-ended--emerge through this unusual, labor-intensive working process. In the end, he is left with one short film and a very small stack of drawings, one for each scene in the film.

Presented chronologically and shown in 35mm for the first time ever in the U.S., 9 Drawings for Projection premieres on June 23 at the Prospect Park Bandshell following a concert by iconic jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela. The second performance takes place on June 27 at the historic Central Park Bandshell.

Artist Bio
William Kentridge was born in 1955 in Johannesburg, where he now lives and works. He attracted international attention when his work was seen in Documenta X and at the Johannesburg and Havana Biennials, all in 1997. His prints and drawings--and his drawing-based work in film, theater, and opera productions--present a unique, emblematic view of the state of South Africa today, from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings to traces of apartheid's violence in the landscape around Johannesburg.

Sponsorship
William Kentridge's 9 Drawings for Projection is made possible by Bloomberg. The performance at the Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival received additional support from the South African Consulate New York and South African Tourism USA.

This presentation is made possible through the cooperation of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Special thanks to the Central Park Conservancy.

Location
Prospect Park on Thursday, June 23: Hugh Masekela performs at 7:30pm; 9 Drawings for Projection follows at 9pm. Free (suggested donation of $3).

The entrance to the Prospect Park Bandshell is located at Prospect Park West and 9th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The closest subway stop is the F at 7th Avenue. (Exit at the front of the Brooklyn-bound train at Eighth Avenue and 9th St., walk one block along 9th St. to park entrance.) Other nearby stops include 2, 3 at Grand Army Plaza; B, Q at Seventh Avenue.

Central Park on Monday, June 27: This performance is free and will begin at 9pm.

The Central Park Bandshell is located along The Mall, mid-park just south of the 72nd Street Transverse. Enter park from either East or West 72nd St. (Please note: This is not the Rumsey Playfield where SummerStage concerts take place, although it is just east of it.) The closest subway stops are B, C at 72nd St or 6 at 68th St - Hunter College.

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