In August 2017, The Centre for the Less Good Idea hosted its debut In Conversation, an informal evening of discussion in which Homi K. Bhabha and William Kentridge shared thoughts on collaborative processes, the act of walking and the notion of the burdened life.

In addition to being one of the most important figures in post-colonial studies, Bhabha is the Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of English and American Literature and Language, and the Director of the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard University. In 2012, Bhabha invited Kentridge to present the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard. Bhabha has also written extensively on Kentridge’s work, specifically his works that deal with the politics of procession, such as More Sweetly Play the Dance and The Head and the Load, both of which are discussed in this In Conversation.

Ambulant thought, carrying one’s burdens and conditions through life, and the process of occupying city spaces through the act of walking are also points of discussion between the two. The consideration of scale in a work of art produces similarly rich discussions on the function and value of shadows and ultimately ties back to ideas of process, materiality, the act of walking in the studio and the studio space itself as a place of convergence that can afford one a utopian view of the outside world.

Ultimately, the 1hr 15 minute In Conversation is a rich and playful discussion that riffs on topics ranging from the processions of the dispossessed and the notion of foot power, to the nature of Johannesburg city and the artist’s mind in studio.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

PROJECT MANAGER | Shruthi Nair
STAGE MANAGER | Hayleigh Evans & POPArt Productions