Extract
Produced towards the end of the four-year celebrations of the centenary of the Great War of 1914-18, the dramatic art performance of South African-born artist William Kentridge — “The Head & the Load” — explodes the traditional understanding of this conflict as a “World War”.
Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba had famously mocked European pretensions ennobling what he called their tribal conflicts into World War status. Kentridge attacks the idea from a different point of view. His project focuses on the impact this “European War” had on the colonies of the principals. It’s an impact that was ignored at the time and subsequently written out of history.
The British, French and German armies employed hundreds of thousands of African support troops for their war in Africa. The Africans were not allowed to carry arms for fear they might turn against them. Many died from sickness or privation in the course of the war.