2024 marks the centenary of Surrealism. In Yorkshire, The Hepworth Wakefield and the Henry Moore Institute are celebrating this with two exhibitions which look at different aspects of this enduringly compelling movement.

This one-day conference will take place at The Hepworth Wakefield on Friday 28 February 2025 to explore in depth the themes emerging from these exhibitions with leading experts. The Keynote will be delivered by Professor Patricia Allmer, University of Edinburgh.

Friday 28 February 2025, 10am - 4pm
Programme:

10am
Introductions

10:10am
Session: The Botanical Surreal
Chaired by Eleanor Clayton, The Hepworth Wakefield, and Dr Anna Reid, University of Leeds

Professor Alyce Mahon, University of Cambridge
‘Ithell Colquhoun’s Surrealist Ecopoetics’

Laura Bruni, Henry Moore Studios and Gardens
‘Ethnobotany and Surrealism in Henry Moore’s work’

Dr Christina Heflin, Parson Paris
‘Eileen Agar’s Botanical Marvellous’

11:30am
Break

11:50am
Session: Surrealism in Yorkshire
Chaired by Dr Clare Nadal, Leeds Museums and Galleries/Henry Moore Institute

Professor Krzysztof Fijalkowski, Norwich University of the Arts
‘Surrealism, Bricolage and the Anti-Work Ethic: Anthony Earnshaw and Peter Wood’

Dr Hope Wolf, University of Sussex
‘North and South: Regional Surrealisms’

1pm
Lunch

2pm
Session: Surrealism and Trauma
Chaired by Professor Patricia Allmer, University of Edinburgh, and Dr Clare O’Dowd, Henry Moore Institute

Professor David Hopkins, University of Glasgow
‘Traumatic Childhood: Surrealism, Ghosts and Poltergeists’

Professor Gavin Parkinson, The Courtauld Institute of Art
‘Hervé Télémaque and the Traumatic Body: Portrait of a Family (1962-3)’

Professor Andrea Gremels, Europa Universität Viadrina
‘Joyce Mansour: Transcultural Trauma and Surrealism in Egypt’

3:30pm
Break

3:45pm
Keynote by Professor Patricia Allmer
‘Zerrbilder: Strategies of Distortion in the Traumatic Surreal’

5pm
Finish

£40 / Members and Students £35 - includes exhibition entry, lunch and refreshments