Artist Kentridge Announces First Mural for Tiber River Restoration Project

South African artist William Kentridge, in partnership with the cultural foundation Tevereterno, unveiled plans for a 550-meter mural along the wall of the Tiber River, due to open on April 21st, 2016. Tevereterno’s mission is to restore Rome’s waterfront through art and performances.

The mural is called Triumphs and Laments, installed on the walls lining the Tiber’s banks with what Kentridge calls reverse graffiti. Stencils of the artist’s charcoal drawings are placed along the wall, and the rest of the wall is power washed. All of the pollution and growth will be removed from the walls, leaving behind only Kentridge’s images, formed essentially by the natural layers of dirt on the walls. The designs are meant to fade over time as pollution and natural growth cloud the surface, procuring a political yet artistic meaning that Kentridge is well-known for. His final mural features more than 90 figures, each nine meters tall.

Kentridge’s theme focuses on the triumphs of people, but also the flipside of triumphs, which is the suffering of others. Tevereterno’s focus is to bring modern Rome and Rome’s historical basis together. These two forces work together to display the battle between natural occurrences and artificial byproducts of modern human advancement.

Kentridge’s images, a representation of survival through the drawings of humans and animals, are designed to eventually disappear, showing the human influence over natural landmarks. Tevereterno’s goal is to display the interaction between environmental elements and manmade elements. We have great influence over the environment, and this mural defies the separation of the Tiber and the rest of the city.

The grand opening features a press conference with Kentridge, two bands directed by composer Phillip Miller, and a parade. Preliminary sketches of the mural are currently on view at Tevereterno, located on Piazza Tevere between Ponte Mazzini and Ponte Sisto.

–Marisa Wherry