William Kentridge: The Battle Between YES and NO
The Battle Between YES and NO
William Kentridge
16/4 2026—7/9 2026
Gallery 1 & 2
Curator: Christelle Havranek
The Battle Between YES and NO is the first major exhibition in Czechia dedicated to William Kentridge, one of the most celebrated artists of our time. Raised in Johannesburg during apartheid, in a family deeply committed to social justice, Kentridge became involved in anti-apartheid activism as a student. These experiences shaped an artistic practice that reflects South Africa’s social and historical tensions while speaking to universal human themes.
Working across drawing, sculpture, performance, film, and opera, Kentridge combines traditional techniques with collaborative experimentation. His work draws on a wide range of references such as his own biography, politics, art history, science, literature, and music, creating a visual language rooted in imagination, ambiguity, and play. Over more than four decades, he has developed a distinctive approach that embraces improvisation and the unknown.
Kentridge’s work has been exhibited around the world, including the MoMA in New York, the Louvre in Paris, the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Zeitz MOCAA and the Norval Foundation in Cape Town, and the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He has participated in Documenta (1997, 2002, 2012) and the Venice Biennale (1993–2015). In 2016, he founded The Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg, dedicated to cross-disciplinary creation, experimentation, and collective thinking.
The exhibition title The Battle Between YES and NO refers to a series of early prints and animations in which Kentridge playfully questions affirmation and denial, merging the words “Yes” and “No” into “Noise”. The exhibition follows his process and his long-standing interest in themes such as exile, language, and desire.
Designed as a spatial collage, the exhibition unfolds like a constellation of interconnected fragments. It traces Kentridge’s path from early charcoal films to his recent multidisciplinary projects, revealing his belief in complexity as an antidote to rigid certainty. While grounded in the South African experience, his work addresses universal concerns and emotions such as guilt, longing, despair, and the fragility of hope, resonating strongly with today’s world marked by political polarization, and the danger of uncompromising beliefs.
Bringing together international loans and works from the Kunsthalle Praha Collection, The Battle Between YES and NO presents early animated films from the Drawings for Projection series (1989–2020), evoking South Africa’s transition out of apartheid, alongside theatrical works such as the kinetic model Right Into Her Arms (2016) and O Sentimental Machine (2015), a project addressing failed utopias. The exhibition also includes To Cross One More Sea (2024), a recent video installation reflecting on exile and displacement, and works created specifically for Prague, such as the A Letter to Felice (2026).
A publication A Natural History of the Studio accompanies the exhibition. Adapted from the transcription of Kentridge’s 2024 Slade Lectures at the University of Oxford, it offers a deep insight into his creative process. The Czech edition, published in collaboration with Éditions Cosee, includes a curatorial text by Christelle Havranek.
The exhibition is initiated by Kunsthalle Praha and realized in collaboration with the artist, William Kentridge Studio and exhibition designer Squatelier.
During the exhibition, visitors will have access to a multilingual audioguide created in collaboration between Kunsthalle Praha and the Cabinet of Wonders platform.
GALLERY
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