Across the Frontiers: International Surrealism

The key objective of this one-day symposium is to examine Surrealism as an International and cross-disciplinary collective. The existing scholarship on Surrealism has largely concentrated on the Paris based group. Although some progress has been made in recent years in recovering the histories of Surrealist circles across and outside of Europe, they are still largely perceived as being on the margins of a movement predominantly based in France. This symposium will not only attempt to shed more light on the concept of internationalism and its role in Surrealist art and writings, but to focus on specific case studies from International Surrealist groups and the ways in which those ‘outposts’ of Surrealism contributed to its key themes and discourses.
 

Speakers will address a variety of artists and Surrealist centres, considering how different geopolitical conditions shaped individual Surrealists and their international groups. Papers will investigate specific points of engagement in a variety of Surrealist media (including painting, photography, film and the livre d’artiste) and enquiries (notably, but not limited to, the relationship between text and image, the representation of the body, advertising, fashion, science and international politics).