Artist
William Kentridge
Triumphs and Laments: A Project for Rome began as a conversation between Kristin Jones and William Kentridge in 2002, with an invitation from Jones to animate the city’s symbolic icon – to bring the She-Wolf to life on the Tiber River. Standing on Ponte Sisto, overlooking the site of Piazza Tevere, facing St. Peter’s colossal dome with the Synagogue behind them, the artists contemplated the looming ever-present question of contemporary Rome: How does one reconcile the glory of the past and the burden of history?
Jones was deeply inspired by the powerful circling figure of a caged black panther from Kentridge’s ‘Felix’ Films, and with that in mind, proposed to him a collaboration. She envisioned an animate metamorphosis of live footage and historical She-Wolf images, projected on the embankment walls of the Tiber. After coming to terms with Rome’s limited resources for the arts, as well as the City’s abundance of water, Jones reimagined the project as a still frieze of chronological figures. Seven years later, in 2012, Kentridge proposed his own idea for the Tiber “about Roman history – There is a wolf,” he said, smiling – “not a nice wolf.”
Inspired by Kentridge’s willingness and his vision of a running figure in Piazza Navona, Jones began research. She invited Roman artists Andrea Biagioni and Sara Spizzichino to join her in exploring the imagery of the tragedies of Rome in WWII and creating a collection with hundreds of images and footage. The scope of the project soon expanded to include both the tragedies and triumphs of Rome across time. A larger group of historians, including students and researchers led by Dr. Lila Yawn from John Cabot University, courageously delved into an exploration of millennia of the city’s dominant tensions – the greatest victories and defeats from the time of ancient myth to the present.
The collective efforts culminated in Kentridge’s most ambitious project to date – a monumental 560 meter-long frieze depicting a silhouetted procession on Piazza Tevere. Years of accumulated bacteria and pollution on the embankment walls were strategically power-washed to reveal more than 50 figures, some up to 10 meters high, a technique originally developed by Jones in 2005.
The Triumphs and Laments frieze was inaugurated on April 21, the symbolic birthday of Rome, with a public theatrical performance choreographed by Kentridge. The event featured original music by composers Philip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi and presented two opposing live shadow and musical processions: the jubilant and the mournful.
Triumphs and Laments is a formidable undertaking, a work of sheer madness and idealism, the realization of which is a victory in itself. The project could never have happened without a shared belief that art is a catalyst for social change and a powerful vehicle for the dialogues of our time. Triumphs and Laments required 16 years of groundwork, a huge leap of faith and hundreds of dedicated volunteers.
“The hope is that, [as] people walk the extent of these 560 meters, they will see images of the history they find both familiar and transformed in some way. And this will reflect the complex way in which a city is represented… We are trying to find the triumph in the lament and the lament in the triumph, putting together a sense of history from fragments.” – William Kentridge
Video Documentation
Triumphs and Laments was made possible through the generous contributions of Galleria Lia Rumma, Marian Goodman Gallery, Goodman Gallery, Agnes Gund, Brenda R. Potter and the Isambard Kingdom Brunel Society of North America. Major sponsorship support was provided by Alitalia, official airline partner. Additional sponsorship is provided by The Westin Excelsior Rome, official hotel partner, Birra Menabrea, Ferrarelle, Giubilarte, Illycaffè, Molto, Tenimenti d’Alessandro, and UBER. The project could not have happened without the support of Suzanne Deal Booth, Alba Clemente, Margaret Holben Ellis, Andrew Ginzel, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Barbara Hoffman, Carol LeWitt, Jay Mellon, Stephen Metcalf, Joyce Pomeroy-Schwartz, Amy Segal, Mark and Aline Weiller, William Weiller, and Linda Cheverton and Walter Wick; as well as the immeasurable contributions of hundreds of dedicated volunteers over many years. Institutional support was provided by: Roma Capitale, Sovraintendenza Capitolina, Municipio Roma 1, AMA, MIBACT Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, Soprintendenza Belle Arti e Paesaggio del Comune di Roma, Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro (ISCR), Regione Lazio, Direzione Infrastrutture ambiente e Politiche abitative della Regione Lazio, Agenzia Regionale per la Difesa del Suolo (ARDIS). And cultural support from: MAXXI, MACRO, John Cabot University, the Embassy of the United States of America in Italy, the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Rome, the American Academy in Rome. Thanks also to: Flavia Barca, Agostino Bureca, Paola Cannavò, Renata Codello, Alessandro Grangiotti, Giovanna Marinelli, Valentina Moncada, Piero Ostilio Rossi, Emiliano Paoletti, Cristiana Perrella, Bartolomeo Pietromarchi.
Triumphs and Laments non sarebbe stato possibile senza l’incommensurabile contributo delle centinaia di volontari in questi anni. L’ampia partecipazione è la generosa risposta all’esigenza di contribuire in prima persona a un progetto che parla di Roma e della sua storia. Questa può essere l’occasione per restituire alla città una parte della propria identità e dare un impulso nella trasformazione dello spazio pubblico, ad iniziare dall’adozione di Piazza Tevere. Gli oltre 200 cittadini coinvolti in Triumphs and Laments sono i primi ambasciatori dell’opera di William Kentridge.
Triumphs and Laments would not have been possible without the immeasurable contributions of hundreds of dedicated volunteers over many years. This is an opportunity to regain a part of the city’s identity and to influence the transformation of public space, beginning with the adoption of Piazza Tevere. The more than 200 volunteers involved in Triumphs and Laments are the first ambassadors of William Kentridge’s work. – Emma Tagliacollo, Volunteer Coordinator
