Nearly from its inception, Surrealism has had an international scope, but perspectives on the movement have been formed primarily through a Western European focus.
The exhibition Surrealism Beyond Borders reconsiders the ‘movement’ of Surrealism across boundaries of geography and chronology. This two-day series of conversations with leading scholars and artists continues to explore the issues raised in the exhibition, especially the blind spots, erasures, and challenges, and their consequences for thinking about Surrealism.
Thursday 20 January, 18.00–22.30 GMT
Session 1, 18.00–20.00 GMT
Surrealism and Place
Looking transnationally and transhistorically, how has Surrealism been shared, adopted, or adapted across cultures, countries, and groups? What kinds of challenges exist in bridging languages, whether they be verbal, visual, or cultural? What issues should we consider in how Surrealism has been translated and transmitted? How might incommensurability play a role in histories of Surrealism? Is there potential productivity in ‘mis-translation’? How do these activities further or prevent access and reproducibility?
Speakers:
- Lori Cole, Associate Director and Clinical Associate Professor, XE: Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement, New York University
- Krzysztof Fijalkowski, Professor of Visual Culture, Norwich University of the Arts
- Talinn Grigor, Professor of Art History, University of California, Davis
- fahima ife, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Louisiana State University
- Mark Polizzotti, Publisher and Editor in Chief, The Met; author and translator
- Moderated by Joan Kee, Professor, History of Art, University of Michigan
Session 2, 21.00–22.30 GMT
On Black, Brown & Beige
Speakers in this panel reflect on the landmark publication Black, Brown & Beige: Surrealist Writings from Africa and the Diaspora (2009), co-edited by Franklin Rosemont and Robin D. G. Kelley, which was the first to acquaint readers around the world with Black Surrealists.
Speakers:
- Robin D. G. Kelley, Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History, University of California, Los Angeles
- Fred Moten, Professor, Department of Performance Studies and Comparative Literature, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
- Moderated by Zita Cristina Nunes, Associate Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania
Friday, January 21, 15.00–18.00 GMT
Session 3, 15.00–17.00 GMT
Surrealism and Time
How have conventions of narrating history, periodisation and chronology complicated a transnational and transhistoric view of Surrealism? Understanding that time is experienced differently in places and among cultures, can Surrealism be a potential bridge? How might we reconcile positions that were radical in the historic past (around issues of colonialism, appropriation, imperialism, racism, sexism, and further restrictions on artists’ freedoms) with today’s critical reassessments of Surrealism and within current discussions of racial and social equity?
Speakers:
- Sam Durant, artist
- Marie Mauzé, Emeritus Director of Research, Laboratory of Social Anthropology, Collège de France
- Partha Mitter, art historian and writer
- Michael Stone-Richards, Professor of Critical Practice and Visual Studies, College for Creative Studies
- Moderated by Dawn Adès, Emeritus Professor, School of Philosophy and Art History, University of Essex
Closing Discussion, 17.00—17.45 GMT
Speakers:
- Dawn Adès, Emeritus Professor, School of Philosophy and Art History, University of Essex
- Joan Kee, Professor, History of Art, University of Michigan
- Zita Cristina Nunes,, Associate Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania
The exhibition Surrealism Beyond Borders is at Tate Modern from 24 February until 29 August 2022.
This symposium is presented by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational.
