William Kentridge’s Supporter

6 min readJul 10, 2023

An Imagined Procession on the West Bank Barrier

William Kentridge is an internationally recognized and praised artist which is why it is expected to find an array of individuals and organizations supporting his work, initiatives, and exhibitions. For example, Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros[1] have supported William Kentridge’s theatrical work The Head and the Load and they demonstrated their staunch advocacy for Palestinian rights. Jonathan is the son of the influential investor, George Soros who has been a victim of anti-Semitism, because of his critique of Israel and support of the BDS movement[2][3][4].

However, from all the support William Kentridge has garnered this article will solely focus on the working relationship between him and Wendy Fisher due to the numerous exhibitions, projects, initiatives, and museum acquisitions she has facilitated within his career.

Wendy Fisher, the owner and founder of A4 Arts Foundation in Cape Town, is the daughter of Nathan Kirsch who is a South African-born billionaire businessman with significant investments in various sectors, including property, wholesale food distribution, and retail. Born in 1932, he established himself as a successful businessman during the apartheid era in South Africa. During apartheid, Kirsh’s textile businesses such as Swatex (now “Natex”) reportedly undermined the United Nations imposed sanctions against apartheid South Africa[5][6] and provided support to the apartheid regime[7]. He was the director and, until 2014, the largest stakeholder in Magal Security Systems, a firm established in 1965 as a branch of the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries[8]. In 2002 Magal received a total of $40 million in contracts to build and maintain barriers that divide the West Bank from Israel[9], a move that has been condemned by numerous human rights organizations due to the controversial nature of the barrier and its impact on the Palestinian population[10].

Wendy Fisher, on the other hand, is an influential figure within the art world, she is the president of the Board of Trustees for the Guggenheim Foundation[11] as well as on the board of directors for Tate Americas Foundation, MoMA PS1, Performa, The Public Art Fund[12] and the Israel Museum[13]. She is also the President of the British Friends of the Art Museums of Israel (BFAMI) and a board member of the American Friends of the Israel Museum (AFIM).

In 2018[14], Wendy Fisher faced inquiries regarding A4 gallery’s perceived role of in advancing “Brand Israel” — an international strategy designed to paint Israel in a favorable light, thereby diverting attention away from its human rights abuses. She was invited to reflect upon the inclusion of artists from previously disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa’s apartheid and colonial history at her gallery for propagandist purposes. She is being accused of obscuring the difficulties faced by Palestinians, and concerningly misusing these artistic voices to “Brand Israel”.

At first A4 Arts Foundation was open to discussing the decolonization of the space, however the evening before the first symposium A4 announced a withdrawal from the event as well as withdrawing the use of the gallery’s space to host the discussion, due to the publication of “The new A4 gallery’s Israeli mirage” in the Mail and Guardian[15].

It is common practice to say that the Israeli-Palestine conflict is complex when debating it, but that is not the case when discussing the illegal occupation of Palestine. The goal of engaging with A4 Arts Foundation was to clarify this position.

Wendy Fisher is on the World leadership council of the Or Movement[16] which partners with the Jewish National Fund. A fund that has in the past been at the center of displacing Palestinians, however, the Or Movement claims to improve the future of Israel by focusing on the growth of an Israeli population in Negev and Galilee to the benefit of both Arab and Jewish people in the region.

Named after the Hebrew word for light, “or” (אור), the Movement’s mission doesn’t reflect this promoted value as Institutions such as Human Rights Watch[17] and Amnesty International[18] have shed light on the displacement of Palestinian communities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) of Negev and Galilee. An article by truah.org[19] sourced by Amnesty International accused the Or Movement of misleading the Bedouin community in Negev and Galilee through its development projects.

The “Hiran” project is an exclusively Jewish community that resulted in the displacement of 450 Bedouins from their ancestral village, Umm Al Hiran. The Or Movement is also accused of leveraging art to facilitate its settlement agenda. This was demonstrated when they showcased dresses from the Desert Embroidery Project by the Laqiya Women Association at a New York fashion show. The Association, unaware that the event was fundraising for the Or Movement, has since denounced it as a misappropriation of their work.

Equally worrying is that following the efforts to address A4 Arts Foundation’s role in promoting Israel’s image, Nathan Kirsch launched an anti-Semitic counter-narrative in 2023 through the “Shine A Light” foundation[20]. This initiative aims to challenge allegations that equate Zionism with neo-colonialism or characterize Israel as an apartheid state.

Shine A Light

In the video from the “Shine A Light” foundation, the speaker declares that, “while it’s become commonplace to call Israel an ‘apartheid state, it’s also a lie engineered to delegitimize Israel and Israel alone.” It is difficult to regard organizations such as Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International as anti-Semitic when they criticize Israel for its crimes of apartheid. However, the “Shine A Light” foundation does have a legitimate reason for bringing attention to anti-Semitism which is still evident in the world and Israel does have a right to exist, but the illegal occupations of Palestine and the ethnic cleansing happening in Palestine is a self-imposed threat to Israelis. Not allowing a space for criticisms to be raised about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is a concern, because the human rights abuses are clear. Aimfully the “Shine A Light” foundation will adopt a more nuanced approach as Nathan Kirsch for example was a critic of South Africa’s apartheid government.

The article aims to encourage dialogue by uncovering instances that have severely impacted the lives of Palestinians. It is the hope of this article that William Kentridge will be able to facilitate a dialogue on his working relationship with Wendy Fisher and the A4 Arts Foundation as it is neither fair on the Palestinians who are victims of apartheid and colonialism, nor is it fair on South Africans who have suffered during apartheid whose history he is representing in his artistic practice.

Wendy Fisher and her gallery A4 Arts Foundation have for example supported William Kentridge on the following :