In a straightforward and recognizable style, Kentridge´s works on paper bring into full view the horrors caused by the Apartheid in South Africa (1948—1994), and the ensuing collective amnesia since its dissolution. By often times using himself as a model or reinterpreting imagery from popular culture, he seeks to convey the enduring need to acknowledge and account for the country´s past.

The works from this period reference several European painters, who also set out to expose the cruelties and unjust ways of the world, to name a few. Similar to these artists, Kentridge communicates both the physical and emotional effects of this condition through the human figure. One such example is Sleeper, which presents the process of sleep as a metaphor for one´s strong desire to forget or discount the horrid facets of history. However, all sleepers must ultimately awaken, and answer for what they have been privy to.

This message does not end with Kentridge´s works and their reference to the Apartheid, but rather can be applied to other cultures, as well as recent and present conditions of exploitation. The ultimate objective of the artist´s works is perhaps best articulated in his own words:

I have never tried to make illustrations of apartheid, but the drawings and the films are certainly spawned by, and feed off, the brutalised society left in its wake. I am interested in a political art, that is to say, an art of ambiguity, contradiction, uncompleted gestures and uncertain endings. An art (and a politics) in which optimism is kept in check and nihilism at bay. Thus they hold an eternal significance that eerily resonates everywhere at anytime, and it is up to the viewer to recognize its personal implication, `wake up’ and take action.