The tapestries show large, dark silhouettes the latest incarnation of the shadow figures William Kentridge has deployed for years against the patterns of old maps. That the tapestries improve greatly upon the collage maquettes is one of the show’s revelations.

The tapestries were made by the Stephens Tapestry Studio in Johannesburg, in close consultation with Mr. Kentridge. Marguerite Stephens established the studio in 1963 in Swaziland as a carpet and curtain weaving business. She moved it two years later to Johannesburg to focus on her craft’s artistic potential. According to the exhibition catalogue the weavers use the French Gobelin high-warp technique, working from the bottom up on a vertical loom with the cartoon of the weaving behind it.

Left top:
William Kentridge, 'Colleoni', 2020
mohair tapestry in collaboration with Marguerite Stephens
300 x 250 cm edition of 6 (WK1021)

Left bottom:
William Kentridge, 'City of Moscow', 2009
mohair tapestry in collaboration with Marguerite Stephens
300 x 314 Edition of 6 (WK1017)