This monumental print was made in 1989, the year the South African government announced a program of social and political reform, and the print conveys a sense of social antagonism through figures whose tongues are entangled. The work marks a shift in Kentridge's screenprinting from theater posters and protest work to fine art, though the brown background of this image recalls the inexpensive brown paper he used for his earliest posters.
Gallery label from William Kentridge: Five Themes, February 24–May 17, 2010.