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Emeritus Distinguished University Professor of English Stephen Clingman presented a keynote lecture, “‘The World as Animation’: William Kentridge’s Art of the Boundary,” to mark the opening of the exhibition, “William Kentridge,” at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan earlier this month.

The exhibition was arranged in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts, London, which was its original venue in 2022. Clingman’s catalogue of the same name was translated into a dual-language Chinese-English edition for Taipei (Stephen Clingman, William Kentridge, Taipei Fine Arts Museum: Taipei, 2024, 265 pp).

Jun-Jieh Wang, director of Taipei Fine Arts Museum, writes about Clingman’s work on the catalogue site Taiwan Art Logo, saying, “This exhibition, the largest solo exhibition of the artist ever held in Taiwan, aims to provide a close encounter with Kentridge's rich artistic universe, offering them a deeper understanding of South Africa, the spiritual homeland that nourishes his creative roots, along with the history and land of that nation.” 

“In addition, I would like to express my special thanks to Professor Stephen Clingman,” Wang adds. “His profound knowledge and articulate discourse not only make for captivating reading but also mark a significant milestone in the study of William Kentridge. We are very privileged to publish this traditional Chinese edition which not only caters to a vast readership admiring Kentridge's art but also adds a depth of discussion to the Chinese-speaking world where there is a scarcity of relevant literature.”

In Taipei, Clingman also participated in a public conversation with Adrian Locke, curator of the Royal Academy exhibition and an interview on Radio Taiwan International.