William Kentridge’s
The Head & the Load

Visionary South African artist William Kentridge returns to Cal Performances following two extraordinarily well-received previous visits (which featured Sibyl in 2023 and The Great Yes, The Great No in 2025) with a seminal work that chronicles—through dance, projection, speech, song, shadow play, costume, and music—the untold history of the more than two million Africans who labored, fought, and died during the First World War. The Head & the Load takes its name from a Ghanaian proverb, “The head and the load are the troubles of the neck,” and continues Kentridge’s exploration of history, language, and artistic and political movements through richly layered and inventive performance works.

Praised as “a fiercely beautiful historical pageant” by the New York Times, Kentridge’s production unfolds on a massive stage, weaving together texts by anticolonial authors and Dada poets in multiple languages, with original music by Philip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi that intermingles traditional African songs with quotes from WWI-era European music by Satie, Hindemith, and Schoenberg.

“A masterpiece…” (The Evening Standard).

This event is part of Cal Performances’ Illuminations: “Innocence & Experience” programming for the 2026–27 season.

Support for this performance is provided by The Council for Kentridge.

Title Sponsor: Brenda Potter
Series Sponsor: Jonathan Logan Family Foundation
Lead Sponsor: Spaht Family Foundation
Additional Support: John Atwater and Diana Nelson; Howard & Sarah D. Solomon Foundation

The Head & the Load:
Major Support: Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation
Patron Sponsor: Nadine Tang (11/15)

The Head & the Load was originally co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Commissions, MASS MoCA, Park Avenue Armory, Ruhrtriennale, and Yale Schwarzman Center with additional support from Holland Festival. 

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 Stavros Niarchos Foundation, JKW Foundation, the 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. 

Created in residence at MASS MoCA, North Adams, 2018, and Kentridge Studios, Johannesburg, 2017-2018. The Head & the Load was developed in collaboration with the chamber orchestra The Knights, based in New York.