北藝嚴選：威廉．肯特里奇《女先知》

「事實上，你的命運將被揭曉，但你卻無法知曉」— 威廉．肯特里奇（William Kentridge）

希比爾（Sibyl）不是一個古希臘先知的名字，而是歷代女先知們繚繞不去的預言所疊合而成的一道聲音。她們用狂亂的嘴唇，吐露「沒有裝戴、沒有芳香」，赤裸刺骨的讖語。在神的幫助下，得以迴盪千年。

在本作，古老的神話擁有了當代的化身：AI與演算法帶來人類文明巨大的飛躍，同時也開啟了危暗驚駭的焦慮。《女先知》由兩個段落組成：第一個段落以肯特里奇經典的炭筆逐格動畫《瞬間已逝》（The Moment Has Gone）開展篇章，由南非知名作曲家Kyle Shepherd配樂，結合聲樂、投影、鋼琴的伴奏，動畫中不斷擦抹、刪除，再重新繪製，描繪角色索霍・埃克斯坦（Soho Eckstein）的旅程。他穿梭在市立藝術博物館和城市邊緣的廢棄礦區，歷經博物館的倒塌，以及孤獨礦工持續進行的抗爭，揭示出創作本身儘管徒勞，但始終是一種與命運抗衡的行動。

《瞬間已逝》的琴音與歌聲延續至第二個段落《等待女先知》（Waiting for the Sibyl）。受希臘神話中的庫邁女先知啟發，傳說，人們會把疑問寫在一片葉子上（比如：「我能活多久？」、「我會死於疾病嗎？」），放在洞窟之外。女先知則將命運寫在另一片橡樹葉，放入洞口的葉堆中。人們迫不及待前去領取答案。然而，當接近洞窟時，總會有一陣風，吹得葉片四散飛舞，所以你永遠無法確定，那些漫天飄落的葉子中，哪一片是自己的，哪一片是別人的。

肯特里奇利用手繪背景板，打造了一本巨大的翻頁書，將雕塑、繪畫，甚至表演者的身體投影上去。書頁即樹葉，翻動如風吹葉旋。書頁上寫著：「到處都是新鮮的墳墓」，彷彿謎語。而南非女舞者炭筆般的身形，舞過一頁頁的紙張。她的陰影如墨，如拓印，如命運燃燒的餘燼。

舊神話中的宿命，成為科技下的新現實。21世紀AI時代，希比爾隱喻的，正是演算法。它預測我們的未來、健康、壽命、政治傾向，甚至是否能貸款。人類渴望掌控未來，卻不得不承認我們已被自己創造的「新神」所支配。無法改變的機械宿命和我們對人性化命運的渴望恰成對比。

2024年5月，臺北市立美術館舉辦了威廉．肯特里奇大型個展，展出橫跨四十年近90件作品，其中更以物件與影像形式呈現了2019年創作的歌劇《女先知》。這個備受矚目的作品終於要在臺北表演藝術中心完整上演，讓觀眾親身感受這位當代藝術巨擘帶給我們一種視野，一種縱觀彙整的全面理解。

✪會員限定✪
北藝嚴選獨家活動《女先知》：拼貼預言──來自女先知的啟示　▶了解詳情

威廉．肯特里奇（William Kentridge）

1955年生於南非，1976 年畢業於約翰尼斯堡金山大學，主修政治學和非洲研究。作品跨足繪畫、雕塑、織毯、影像、劇場、文學與表演，然而，他創作的核心卻時常回到有關殖民與種族隔離的議題，原因其來有自：肯特里奇的雙親皆是南非傑出的人權辯護律師，這樣的經驗甚至早於他任何藝術創作的記憶，影響他日後為社會不義與苦難發聲的創作路線。他的作品一直要到南非1980年代後期種族隔離政策的落幕、對外的開放，才逐漸蜚聲國際，九零年代始陸續在全球的博物館和畫廊展出，往後的戲劇創作更擴展至歌劇作品。

他除了同時身兼演員、設計師、作家、戲劇導演之外，八零年代曾持續在路口大道劇團（Junction Avenue Theatre Company）從事劇場、節目的佈景與海報繪製，開啟他創作大型炭筆畫、粉彩畫、蝕刻版畫、橡膠版畫和短片的興趣。對肯特里奇來說，繪畫不僅僅是「美麗的記號」，它必須是一種觀察，是真實世界中某樣東西的印記。在他鮮明而陰鬱的畫面中，往往展露人性價值的脆弱與珍貴，歷史暴力的剝削，以及生命正義與自由的理念。

他的美學風格深受電影早期特效與逐格動畫的技術影響，通過擦除和反覆重繪的筆觸動態，將這一特徵融入創作過程，使影片的意義隨著製作而產生不同的發展。時間和變化的概念綻開細緻的波紋，拓印了記憶的褪色與時光的痕跡。

本次《女先知》的製作，是肯特里奇面對瞬息萬變的世界的最新回應。當古神話遇見新科技，非洲本土音樂、舞蹈以及古希臘女先知的預言，意外地將當代的重要議題轉譯成形，更讓那些伏藏於暗處、沒有說出的事情，一一顯影。他以濃烈深邃的詩意、多元敘述的形式、混搭變幻的媒材，帶領觀眾進入一層又一層震撼視聽的美學維度。

【演出暨製作人員名單】

創作團隊

概念 / 導演｜William Kentridge

合唱作曲 / 副導演｜Nhlanhla Mahlangu

作曲 / 音樂總監｜Kyle Shepherd

剪輯 / 合成｜Žana Marović

服裝設計｜Greta Goiris

舞台設計｜Sabine Theunissen

燈光設計｜Urs Schönebaum

燈光設計助理｜Elena Gui

音效工程｜Gavan Eckhart

攝影指導｜Duško Marović

影像控制｜Kim Gunning

創作與表演團隊

鋼琴｜Kyle Shepherd

歌手 / 舞者｜Nhlanhla Mahlangu

歌手 / 舞者｜Xolisile Bongwana

舞者｜Thulani Chauke

舞者｜Teresa Phuti Mojela

舞者｜Thandazile 'Sonia' Radebe

歌手｜Ayanda Nhlangothi

歌手｜Zandile Hlatshwayo

歌手｜Siphiwe Nkabinde

歌手｜S'busiso Shozi

製作團隊

技術指導｜Boyd Design

製作經理｜Brendon Boyd

技術總監｜Carly Levin

舞台經理｜Meghan Williams

服裝監督｜Mathilde Baillarger

道具總監｜Lissy Barnes-Flint

平面攝影｜Stella Olivier

〈Starve the Algorithm〉旁白｜Joanna Dudley

工作室製作暨技術總監｜Chris Waldo de Wet

服裝製作｜Emmanuelle Erhart, Carlo Di Mascolo, David Engler

專業道具製作｜Jonas Lundquist

佈景繪製｜Anaïs Thomas

工作室助理｜Jacques van Staden, Jessica Jones

“The fact that your fate would be known, but you couldn't know it.” by William Kentridge

The name Sibyl is not a single, ancient Greek prophetess but a collective voice, a haunting chorus uttered and layered by generations of female seers. Their frenzied lips gave voice to those “unadorned, unscented” truths—stark and piercing oracles that, aided by the gods, have reverberated through millennia.

In this work, ancient myth finds contemporary avatars in AI and algorithms, which herald immense advancements in human civilization while also evoking profound existential anxiety. Sibyl unfolds in two parts. The first segment begins with Kentridge's classic stop motion charcoal animation, The Moment Has Gone, accompanied by a score from renowned South African composer Kyle Shepherd. Combining vocals, piano, and projection, the animation portrays Soho Eckstein’s journey through a city art museum and the desolate outskirts of abandoned mining sites. Witnessing the collapse of the museum and the persistent protests of lonely miners, the film reveals artistic creation, though futile, as a testament to the enduring struggle against the inevitable.

The piano and vocals from The Moment Has Gone carry on to the second segment, Waiting for the Sibyl. Inspired by the Cumaean Sibyl of Greek mythology, the story recalls a tradition where people wrote questions on oak leaves—questions such as “How long will I live?” or “Will I die of illness?”—and placed them outside the cave. The prophetess would inscribe their fates on other leaves and place them back among the pile. People, eager for answers, would rush to retrieve their fate. Yet, as they approached the cave, there was always a breeze scattering the leaves, leaving them unable to know which leaf was theirs or someone else’s.

Kentridge uses hand-painted backdrops to create a massive flipbook, where the sculptures, paintings, and even the performers’ bodies are projected. The pages, representing leaves, flutter as though stirred by the wind. On the page is written a cryptic word, “Fresh graves are everywhere.” Meanwhile, a South African dancer’s figure, evocative of charcoal sketches, moves fluidly across the pages. Her ink-like shadow resembles imprints as well as the burning embers of fate.

The predetermined fate in ancient myth becomes the new realities in modern technology. In the 21st century, Sibyl becomes a metaphor for algorithms, predicting our futures, health, lifespan, political leanings, and even creditworthiness. While humanity yearns to control its future, we must confront the unsettling truth: we are governed by the very “new gods” we’ve created. The tension of our era lies in the juxtaposition of our yearning for a humanized fate and the inescapable determinism of machines.

In May 2024, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum hosted a major solo exhibition of William Kentridge, showcasing nearly 90 works spanning four decades. Sibyl, an opera originally conceived in 2019, was also exhibited through objects and imagery. This highly anticipated opera will finally be presented in its entirety at the Taipei Performing Arts Center, offering audiences a profound experience that encapsulates the sweeping vision and comprehensive insight of this contemporary art master.

Born in South Africa in 1955, William Kentridge graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in 1976, where he majored in Political Science and African Studies. His artistic practice encompasses a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, tapestry, film, theater, literature, and performance. However, the core of his art often returns to colonialism and apartheid, a focus deeply rooted in his upbringing. Both of Kentridge’s parents were prominent human rights lawyers in South Africa, and this experience—predating any memory of his artistic practice—profoundly influenced his creative trajectory as a voice for social injustice and human suffering. It was not until the late 1980s, as apartheid began to crumble and South Africa opened to the world, that Kentridge’s work began to gain international recognition. By the 1990s, his art was being exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, and his theatrical ventures expanded to the realm of opera.

In addition to being an actor, designer, writer, and theater director, in the 1980s, Kentridge also worked with the Junction Avenue Theatre Company, where he designed sets and posters for plays and productions. This experience spurred his interest in creating large-scale charcoal drawings, pastel works, etchings, linocuts, and short films. For Kentridge, drawing is not merely about creating “beautiful marks”; it is an act of observation, a mark of something in the real world. His stark yet somber imagery often lays bare the fragility and value of human ideals, the exploitation rooted in historical violence, and the enduring aspirations for justice and freedom.

Kentridge’s aesthetic draws heavily from early cinematic special effects and stop-motion animation techniques. The dynamic interplay of erasure and redrawing lies at the heart of his artistic process, enabling meanings to evolve through the act of creation. Subtle ripples of time and change are etched into his works, capturing the fading of memory and the traces left by time.

Sibyl represents Kentridge’s latest response to a rapidly changing world. Where ancient mythology meets modern technology, African music and dance intertwine with the prophecies of a Greek prophetess, unexpectedly transforming contemporary issues into tangible form and uncovering hidden, unspoken truths. With profound poetic depth, diverse narratives, and a medley of shifting materials, Kentridge invites audiences into an ever-expanding aesthetic dimension of visual and sensory resonance.

creative team

Concept / Director | William Kentridge

Choral Composer / Associate Director | Nhlanhla Mahlangu

Composer / Music Director | Kyle Shepherd

Editing / Compositing  | Žana Marović

Costume Design | Greta Goiris

Set Design | Sabine Theunissen

Lighting Design | Urs Schönebaum

Lighting Design Associate | Elena Gui

Sound Engineering | Gavan Eckhart

Cinematography | Duško Marović

Video Control | Kim Gunning

created and performed by

Piano | Kyle Shepherd                                       

Vocalist / Dancer | Nhlanhla Mahlangu

Vocalist / Dancer | Xolisile Bongwana

Dancer | Thulani Chauke 

Dancer | Teresa Phuti Mojela 

Dancer | Thandazile 'Sonia' Radebe

Vocalist | Ayanda Nhlangothi 

Vocalist | Zandile Hlatshwayo

Vocalist | Siphiwe Nkabinde

Vocalist | S'busiso Shozi

production team

Technical Direction | Boyd Design

Production Manager | Brendon Boyd

Technical Director | Carly Levin     

Stage Manager | Meghan Williams

Costume Supervisor | Mathilde Baillarger 

Props Master | Lissy Barnes-Flint

Still Photography | Stella Olivier

Voice over 'Starve the Algorithm' | Joanna Dudley

Studio Fabrication & Technical Director | Chris Waldo de Wet

Costume Fabricators | Emmanuelle Erhart, Carlo Di Mascolo, David Engler

Specialist Prop Fabricator | Jonas Lundquist

Scenic Painter | Anaïs Thomas

Studio Assistants | Jacques van Staden, Jessica Jones

演出全長：演出全長約84分鐘，含中場休息20分鐘。

演出語言：英語(English) 、祖魯語(Zulu)、塞索托語(Sesotho)、科薩語(Xhosa)、恩德貝勒語(Ndebele) 。部分片段輔以中文字幕。

到場注意事項：
◎遲到及中途離席的觀眾，須依工作人員引導等候入場。本場演出最後遲進點後即無再入場機會，無法因此退換票，請您特別留意。

◎演前導聆：每場演前40分鐘，於北藝中心2樓太陽廳舉行。

◎演後座談：4/11 (FRI.) 演後於大劇院觀眾席。