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Anti-apartheid Resistance and Postcolonial Visual Narratives in William Kentridge’s Cine-Theatre



Author(s)

Martyna Groth

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DOI:10.17265/2159-550X/2026.10.002

SWPS University, Warsaw, Poland

A world-class multidisciplinary South African artist, despite his Lithuanian-Jewish heritage, consistently interrogates the legacies of colonialism and their enduring ramifications through his charcoal animations, puppet theater, and live performances. Employing subtle shadows, metaphors, and visual narratives, his work evokes the plundering of minerals and rare metals, the violence of slavery, colonial domination, and the forced displacement of indigenous populations. His oeuvre does not shy away from confronting acts of genocide and the historical traumas that reverberate across generations. From a postcolonial perspective, Kentridge’s practice illuminates how South Africa’s past—from colonial extraction to apartheid and political repression—continues to shape social structures, power hierarchies, and collective (post)memory. His art transcends mere documentation; it becomes a space for critical dialogue, where memory, guilt, and the aspiration for transformation intersect. Each piece challenges audiences to confront questions of justice, responsibility, and the possibility of redemption, emphasizing that the postcolonial legacy of South Africa remains vibrant, contested, and demanding of reflection. Through its layered aesthetics and intermedial strategies, his work bridges historical inquiry with contemporary critique, transforming personal and collective remembrance into performative acts of witnessing. It embodies the capacity of visual culture to mediate ethical reflection, evoke empathy, and catalyze a consciousness of historical accountability. Ultimately, Kentridge’s practice underscores the inseparability of art and politics, memory and morality, and serves as a potent reminder that postcolonial histories are not relics of the past but living frameworks shaping ongoing societal realities.

migration, cine-theatre, South Africa, antiapartheid, resistance

Martyna Groth. (2026). Anti-apartheid Resistance and Postcolonial Visual Narratives in William Kentridge’s Cine-Theatre. History Research, October 2026, Vol. 8, No. 10, 574-579.