Today we turn our path to Dresden, the German city enchanted by its historic texture, and to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD) museums. The monumental exhibition festival “William Kentridge. Listen to the Echo”, organised in honour of the 70th birthday of the world-renowned South African artist William Kentridge, welcomes art lovers simultaneously at various points across the city. This impressive body of work, grounded in drawing, offers an interdisciplinary feast ranging from animation films to prints, from sculpture to puppet theatre.
The Dance of Puppets and Shadows: Kraftwerk Mitte
At the Puppentheatersammlung (Puppet Theatre Collection) in Dresden’s Kraftwerk Mitte area, the exhibition hosts the “The Centre for the Less Good Idea” platform founded by Kentridge and Bronwyn Lace until 28 June 2026. In this experimental space, the museum’s historic puppets come to life through the artist’s new sound and video installations, building a bridge between past and future. Kentridge’s work in puppet theatre direction and shadow theatre stands alongside the museum’s historical pieces, inviting the viewer into a “resonance chamber”.
Albertinum and Residenzschloss: Confrontation with History
At the Albertinum, visitors are met with two shattering cinematic installations. “More Sweetly Play the Dance” (2015) enters into dialogue with Dresden’s famous “Procession of Princes”, presenting shadow figures moving across a barren landscape accompanied by the sound of a brass band. “Oh to Believe in Another World” (2022), nourished by the music of Dmitri Shostakovich, narrates the rise and fall of the Russian avant-garde under Soviet rule, exploring the fragile relationship between power and art. Meanwhile, the Kupferstich-Kabinett within the Residenzschloss focuses on the artist’s mastery in printmaking; engravings and woodcuts produced with radical techniques address themes of social change and the uncertainty between triumph and mourning.
