Dreams and visions by the sea

Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the first surrealist manifesto, Art Inside Out visits Mjellby Art Museum with the exhibition Dreams and Visions by the Sea. In an exploration of the imprint of surrealism in contemporary times, the artists Ingela Ihrman and Muhammad Ali have been invited to create new works during an artistic residency in and around Halmstad.

During the autumn you can also take part in new performance works by the artists Ylva Snöfrid, Fågelle, Linnea Hansander, Alexander Wireen and an exploration of Afro-surrealism produced by curator Tawanda Appiah.

What new realities arise today in the desire to challenge and transform society, conventions, and the limitations of the self? Surrealism calls for new languages, artistic hybrids, critical creativity, and demands that we identify and challenge the boundaries that claim our reality, but the political and aesthetic conventions that surrealism wants to shed and transgress are different now than they were a hundred years ago. The desire to move beyond the limitations of reality, to allow it to explode and expand, is motivated by other forces. In the gaps that arise between artificial intelligence and human bodies. In a transformed view of our role in ecological systems where we are no longer the sole conquerors but are tightly interconnected with other species and organisms. In queer, postcolonial, and anti-racist resistance movements. To name only a few. The development of society has blazed a trail for new forms, methods, and creative spaces where surrealism’s quest through the labyrinths of the subconscious, the crossing of boundaries, and what lies beyond reality is actualized. The exhibition, together with a rich performance program and the publication AIO Journal, followed some of these threads and examined the influence surrealism has on our contemporary moment.