• WHAT'S ON AT THE CENTRE | APRIL - MAY 2025
  • AT THE CENTRE
    • COLLATION 1 | ON AIR: VISUAL RADIO PLAYS
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    • ABOUT
    • FOR ONCE ARCHIVE (2017 - 2024)
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    • SEASON 10 | OCTOBER 2023
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The Centre for the Less Good Idea is an interdisciplinary incubator space for the arts based in Maboneng, Johannesburg

  • WHAT'S ON AT THE CENTRE | APRIL - MAY 2025
  • AT THE CENTRE
    • COLLATION 1 | ON AIR: VISUAL RADIO PLAYS
    • COLLATION 2 | SOUNDING PICTURES: LIVE SCORES TO SHORT SILENT FILMS
  • SO Academy
    • ABOUT
    • SO | PRACTICE & TÊTE-À-TÊTE
    • THINKING IN (2020 - 2025)
    • IN CONVERSATION ARCHIVE (2017 – 2024)
    • HOW | Showing the Making (2022 - 2024)
    • THE OPEN MOMENT
    • DR JAMES BARRY WORKSHOPS (2024)
    • THE HEAD & THE LOAD | ACTIVATIONS (2023)
    • MOTLHANA KALANA INCUBATOR (2023)
    • A GATHERING IN A BETTER WORLD (2023)
    • The Centre of Somewhere (2022 - 2023)
    • 2ndary REVISIONS (2022)
    • WOVEN WITH BROWN THREAD (2021)
  • THE CENTRE OUTSIDE THE CENTRE
    • ABOUT
    • 2025
    • CFLGI x FONDATION CARTIER (2024)
    • 2024
    • 2023
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
  • FOR ONCE
    • ABOUT
    • FOR ONCE ARCHIVE (2017 - 2024)
    • A KAFKA MOMENT (2021)
    • A CONSIDERED 3 MINUTES (2020/2021)
    • THE POETRY MINUTE (2021)
    • A GODOT MOMENT (2020)
    • ODD PORTRAITS OF THIS PLACE (2021)
    • THE HIGHWAY NOTICE PROJECT (2020/2021)
    • THE LONG MINUTE (2020)
  • Season Archive
    • SEASON 10 | OCTOBER 2023
    • SEASON 09 | October 2022
    • SEASON 08 | October 2021
    • Season 07 | April 2020 / September 2021
    • Season 06 | October 2019
    • Season 05 | April 2019
    • Season 04 | October 2018
    • Season 03 | April 2018
    • Season 02 | October 2017
    • Season 01 | March 2017
  • Tickets
  • SO | ACADEMY BOOKINGS
  • THE TEAM
  • About

PIANO RAT

William Kentridge is a draughtsman, performer, filmmaker, and founder of The Centre for the Less Good Idea.

This is the second Long Minute in the ‘paper-rat series’ by Kentridge. The making of paper rats came after hearing news reports from Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Designated as the main Covid-19 hospital in the district, reports had doctors and nurses describing the scenes as ‘war like’ and showing images of rats feeding on medical waste.

After finding the minimum requirement for transforming paper into a believable rat, Kentridge went on to collaborate with musician and pianist Kyle Shepherd in the finding of this music. After having the rats ‘play’ compositions by Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, Shepherd went on to compose this music specifically for the rats.

Concept & Creation | William Kentridge
Musician | Kyle Shepherd
Video Editor & Compositor | Žana Marović
Curator of The Long Minute | Bronwyn Lace