Discussing Art making

Review of Kentridge and Dumas in Conversation
Screened at the Encounters Documentary Festival at the Nu Metro, V&A Waterfront, Tuesday, 7 July 2009
By Janet Botes

This documentary gives insight into the production and thinking processes behind the artwork of two of the most renowned South African artists today. William Kentridge and Marlene Dumas share their working methods, techniques and studios with each other and the viewer. Their art differs in a wide variety of ways, with widely opposing styles and approaches, which proves greatly successful in defining each artist’s work. Scenes of the two artists working in their respective studios, scenes of their work and scenes from an exhibition of each artist’s work were integrated almost seamlessly into the prevailing conversation.

During the conversation, controversial taboos in art were touched slightly, but both artists seemed a bit reluctant to address deeper issues of context and meaning in their work. They were also not encouraged to talk about their thoughts on South African Art at present and how they perceive it, which could have proved insightful and increased the depth of the discussion. Another possible and valuable question would have been to explore how, or if, either artist contributes to supporting new talent and in this way advancing contemporary art into new heights and ventures. Being established and influential, they are essential players in the field, and what they do could have great repercussions.

Even when keeping the above in mind, however, one does realize that these were not issues or themes for the conversation, which was in fact geared toward their art and how they create it. Should the above questions or issues be included in the documentary, it would have lost its focus on artistic production and rather moved its focus into the sphere of artist community examination. This could be another avenue of exploration for the director, Catherine Meyburg, who could prove to be a very successful forerunner in promoting art practice and art discussion through documentary film-making.

Kentridge and Dumas in Conversation screens again on Firday, 17 July 2009 at 6.30 pm. Make sure to book your seat, as they are limited and well worth it.