Let us try for once not to be right
The Head & the Load is about Africa and Africans in the First World War, that is to say about the contradictions and paradoxes of colonialism that were heated and compressed by the circumstances of the war. It is about historical incomprehension (and inaudibility and invisibility). The colonial logic towards the black participants could be summed up as, ‘Lest their actions merit recognition, their deeds must not be recorded.’ The Head & the Load aims to recognise and record those deeds.
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+ Credits
The Head & the Load
Music composed and conceived by Philip Miller
First performed July 11-15, 2018 at the Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London.
CREATIVE TEAM
Concept and Director
William Kentridge
Composer
Philip Miller
Co-composer and Music Director
Thuthuka Sibisi
Projection Design
Catherine Meyburgh
Choreography
Gregory Maqoma
Costume Design
Greta Goiris
Set Design
Sabine Theunissen
Lighting Design
Urs Schönebaum and Georg Veit
Sound Design
Mark Grey
Video Editing and Compositing
Janus Fouché, Žana Marović and Catherine Meyburgh
Associate Director
Luc De Wit
Studio Technical Director
Chris Waldo de Wet
Video Orchestrator
Kim Gunning
Cinematography
Duško Marović
Orchestration
Michael Atkinson and Philip Miller
SUPPORT
The Head & The Load is co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Commissions, Park Avenue Armory, Ruhrtriennale, Yale Schwarzman Center and MASS MoCA with additional support from Holland Festival.
The Head & The Load acknowledges the kind assistance of Marian Goodman Gallery, Goodman Gallery and Lia Rumma Gallery in this project.
Lead support for the development of The Head & the Load has been provided by Brenda R. Potter, Daniel R. Lewis, the W.L.S. Spencer Foundation and Jennifer & Jonathan Allan Soros, with further support from Alessia Bulgari, Agnes Gund and Wendy Fisher. Additional support has been provided by the JKW Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Simeon Bruner, Robert Gold, Sarah McNair, Randal Fippinger, John and Cynthia Reed, Bill & Sako Fisher, Quaternaire and donors who wish to remain anonymous.
PRODUCTION
Executive producer
THE OFFICE performing arts + film Rachel Chanoff, Laurie Cearley, Lynn Koek, Catherine DeGennaro, Noah Bashevkin, Olli Chanoff, Diane Eber, Gabrielle Davenport, & Chloe Golding
Toured in association with Quaternaire, Sarah Ford ADD
Performance history
July 11-15, 2018: Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London, UK
August 9-12, 2018: Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg, Germany
December 4-15, 2018: Park Avenue Armory, New York, USA
May 29-31, 2019: Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands
CREATED AND PERFORMED BY
Actors
Mncedisi Shabangu, Hamilton Dlamini, Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Luc De Wit
Featured Vocalists and Performers
Joanna Dudley, Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Ann Masina, Bham Ntabeni, Sipho Seroto, N`Faly Kouyate (kora), Mario Gotoh* (viola), Tlale Makhene (percussion) and Vincenzo Pasquariello (piano)
Dancers
Gregory Maqoma, Julia Zenzie Burnham, Thulani Chauke, Xolani Dlamini, Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Ensamble Vocalists
Mhlaba Buthelezi, Ayanda Eleki, Grace Magubane, Blaise Malaba, Ncokwane Lydia Manyama, Caroline Modiba, Tshegofatso Moeng, Mapule Moloi, Lindokuhle Thabede, Motho Oa Batho, Bulelani Madondile, Lubabalo Velebayi and Eddie Mofokeng
Musicians
Waldo Alexander (violin), Christina Courtin* (violin), Colin Jacobsen* (violin); Eilidh Martin (cello), Caitlin Sullivan* (cello), Caleb van der Swaagh* (cello), Eric Jacobson* (cello); Logan Coale* (bass), Shawn Conley* (bass); Andrew Rehrig* (flute), Myles Roberts (flute), Alex Sopp* (flute); Michael P. Atkinson* (French horn), Deepa Goonetilleke (French horn), Laura Weiner* (French horn); Samuel Ewens* (trumpet), Samuel Jones* (trumpet); Bob Couture* (trombone), Richard Harris* (trombone), Nicolas Jones* (trombone), Will Lang* (trombone), Dave Nelson* (trombone), Jon Stokes* (trombone), Benny Vernon* (trombone); Jon Hill* (tuba), Andy Kershaw* (tuba), Andrew Madej* (tuba); Nathan Koci* (accordion), Will Holshouser (accordion); Sam Budish* (percussion), David Stevens* (percussion).
*with members of The Knights chamber orchestra (New York)
The Knights
Artistic Directors Colin Jacobsen / Eric Jacobsen
Executive Director Shruti Adhar
theknightsnyc.com
KABOOM!
2018
3-channel video installation with projection onto miniature stage model for The Head & the Load
HD video, wooden shelf, cardboard floor, paper collage, speakers, BrightSign media players, steel stands, projectors
Approximately 20 minutes
Edition of 4 + 1 Artist’s Proof
Music and sound design
Philip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi
Video editing
Janus Fouché
Sound editing and mixing
Gavan Eckhart
Technical design and construction
Chris-Waldo de Wet and Jacques van Staden
Vocalists
Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Mncedisi Shabangu, Hamilton Dlamini, Lydia Ncokwane Manyama, Mapule Moloi, Ann Masina, Grace Magubane, Tshegofatso Moeng, Makudupanyane William, Senaoana, Mahlaba Buthelezi, Ayanda Eleki, Bongani Ndhlalane, Lindokuhle Thabede, Bham Ntabeni, Tlale Makhene
Musicians
N’faly Kouyate: vocalist, kora player; Vincenzo Pasquariello: piano; Jill Richards: piano; Merinda Fourie: piano; Waldo Alexander: violin; Kgaugelo Mpyane: viola; Kate White: viola; Tsepo Pooe: cello; Christi-Louise Swanepoel: double bass; Lyle Potgieter: flute and piccolo; Shannon Armer: french horn; Lwanda Gogwana: trumpet; Alex Hitzeroth: trombone and bass trombone; Dan Selsick: trombone; Justin Sasman: tuba; Tlale Makhene: percussion; Riaan van Rensburg: percussion
“Kélénin tanta ye” composed by N’faly Koute
“Liebeslied” by Fritz Kreisler
“Einleitung”, Opus 37 by Paul Hindemith
Prisoners of World War 1 recordings courtesy of Laut Archiv, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Musicians recorded at Howard Audio
Additional recordings by Michele Greco
Making
This reconstruction of ideas suggests there was a clarity of thinking from the beginning. But this clarity only arises when the project is finished. The work in process was much less coherent, and deliberately so. We needed to be led not only by books and texts. There was a loose gathering of possibilities to see how different fragments could talk to each other. There was traditional research at the Imperial War Museum: photos, letters, copies of military instructions. In different archives there was a search for African oral histories of the War (there were remarkably few of them that we could track down). We were looking both for the broad strokes, the broad shapes of what happened, but also for surprising thoughts, for particular turns of phrase; for the idiosyncratic. Looking for riddles with only half-formed answers rather than clear explications.
O sleep, the poor man’s fat
They have milked our goats dry
The pool dried up while I was looking at it
Darkness gossips about no one
Hope causes no shame
God’s opinion is unknown
When a man dies, a man remains
His back is fitted for the burden
The hand never loses its way to the mouth
Darkness has eaten her own child
Hunger makes no man wise
The pool ahead is not to be trusted
The Head & the Load
Processional opera
KABOOM!
Projection onto miniature stage model for The Head & the Load
Excerpt from complete film
Drawings
Exhibitions
More
Reading
Credits
The Head & the Load
William Kentridge
Music composed and conceived by Philip Miller
First performed July 11-15, 2018 at the Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London.
CREATIVE TEAM
Concept and Director
William Kentridge
Composer
Philip Miller
Co-composer and Music Director
Thuthuka Sibisi
Projection Design
Catherine Meyburgh
Choreography
Gregory Maqoma
Costume Design
Greta Goiris
Set Design
Sabine Theunissen
Lighting Design
Urs Schönebaum and Georg Veit
Sound Design
Mark Grey
Video Editing and Compositing
Janus Fouché, Žana Marović and Catherine Meyburgh
Associate Director
Luc De Wit
Studio Technical Director
Chris Waldo de Wet
Video Orchestrator
Kim Gunning
Cinematography
Duško Marović
Orchestration
Michael Atkinson and Philip Miller
SUPPORT
The Head & The Load is co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Commissions, Park Avenue Armory, Ruhrtriennale, Yale Schwarzman Center and MASS MoCA with additional support from Holland Festival.
The Head & The Load acknowledges the kind assistance of Marian Goodman Gallery, Goodman Gallery and Lia Rumma Gallery in this project.
Lead support for the development of The Head & the Load has been provided by Brenda R. Potter, Daniel R. Lewis, the W.L.S. Spencer Foundation and Jennifer & Jonathan Allan Soros, with further support from Alessia Bulgari, Agnes Gund and Wendy Fisher. Additional support has been provided by the JKW Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Simeon Bruner, Robert Gold, Sarah McNair, Randal Fippinger, John and Cynthia Reed, Bill & Sako Fisher, Quaternaire and donors who wish to remain anonymous.
PRODUCTION
Executive producer
THE OFFICE performing arts + film Rachel Chanoff, Laurie Cearley, Lynn Koek, Catherine DeGennaro, Noah Bashevkin, Olli Chanoff, Diane Eber, Gabrielle Davenport, & Chloe Golding
Toured in association with Quaternaire, Sarah Ford ADD
Performance history
July 11-15, 2018: Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London, UK
August 9-12, 2018: Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg, Germany
December 4-15, 2018: Park Avenue Armory, New York, USA
May 29-31, 2019: Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands
www.theheadandtheload.com
CREATED AND PERFORMED BY
Actors
Mncedisi Shabangu, Hamilton Dlamini, Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Luc De Wit
Featured Vocalists and Performers
Joanna Dudley, Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Ann Masina, Bham Ntabeni, Sipho Seroto, N`Faly Kouyate (kora), Mario Gotoh* (viola), Tlale Makhene (percussion) and Vincenzo Pasquariello (piano)
Dancers
Gregory Maqoma, Julia Zenzie Burnham, Thulani Chauke, Xolani Dlamini, Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Ensamble Vocalists
Mhlaba Buthelezi, Ayanda Eleki, Grace Magubane, Blaise Malaba, Ncokwane Lydia Manyama, Caroline Modiba, Tshegofatso Moeng, Mapule Moloi, Lindokuhle Thabede, Motho Oa Batho, Bulelani Madondile, Lubabalo Velebayi and Eddie Mofokeng
Musicians
Waldo Alexander (violin), Christina Courtin* (violin), Colin Jacobsen* (violin); Eilidh Martin (cello), Caitlin Sullivan* (cello), Caleb van der Swaagh* (cello), Eric Jacobson* (cello); Logan Coale* (bass), Shawn Conley* (bass); Andrew Rehrig* (flute), Myles Roberts (flute), Alex Sopp* (flute); Michael P. Atkinson* (French horn), Deepa Goonetilleke (French horn), Laura Weiner* (French horn); Samuel Ewens* (trumpet), Samuel Jones* (trumpet); Bob Couture* (trombone), Richard Harris* (trombone), Nicolas Jones* (trombone), Will Lang* (trombone), Dave Nelson* (trombone), Jon Stokes* (trombone), Benny Vernon* (trombone); Jon Hill* (tuba), Andy Kershaw* (tuba), Andrew Madej* (tuba); Nathan Koci* (accordion), Will Holshouser (accordion); Sam Budish* (percussion), David Stevens* (percussion).
*with members of The Knights chamber orchestra (New York)
The Knights
Artistic Directors Colin Jacobsen / Eric Jacobsen
Executive Director Shruti Adhar
theknightsnyc.com
KABOOM!
2018
3-channel video installation with projection onto miniature stage model for The Head & the Load
HD video, wooden shelf, cardboard floor, paper collage, speakers, BrightSign media players, steel stands, projectors
Approximately 20 minutes
Edition of 4 + 1 Artist’s Proof
Music and sound design
Philip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi
Video editing
Janus Fouché
Sound editing and mixing
Gavan Eckhart
Technical design and construction
Chris-Waldo de Wet and Jacques van Staden
Vocalists
Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Mncedisi Shabangu, Hamilton Dlamini, Lydia Ncokwane Manyama, Mapule Moloi, Ann Masina, Grace Magubane, Tshegofatso Moeng, Makudupanyane William, Senaoana, Mahlaba Buthelezi, Ayanda Eleki, Bongani Ndhlalane, Lindokuhle Thabede, Bham Ntabeni, Tlale Makhene
Musicians
N’faly Kouyate: vocalist, kora player; Vincenzo Pasquariello: piano; Jill Richards: piano; Merinda Fourie: piano; Waldo Alexander: violin; Kgaugelo Mpyane: viola; Kate White: viola; Tsepo Pooe: cello; Christi-Louise Swanepoel: double bass; Lyle Potgieter: flute and piccolo; Shannon Armer: french horn; Lwanda Gogwana: trumpet; Alex Hitzeroth: trombone and bass trombone; Dan Selsick: trombone; Justin Sasman: tuba; Tlale Makhene: percussion; Riaan van Rensburg: percussion
“Kélénin tanta ye” composed by N’faly Koute
“Liebeslied” by Fritz Kreisler
“Einleitung”, Opus 37 by Paul Hindemith
Prisoners of World War 1 recordings courtesy of Laut Archiv, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Musicians recorded at Howard Audio
Additional recordings by Michele Greco