Events

10 Jun 12 Sep/10

The Surreal HouseArt, architecture and film come together in The Surreal House, a major exhibition presenting the individual dwelling as a place of wonder, desire and foreboding. Fusing house and dream, it elaborates the marvellous as championed by the principal founder of Surrealism, Andr Breton. Haunted houses, caves, cabinets of curiosities, ruined castles, cages, boxes, labyrinths, bell jars and the womb suggest surreal habitats to be discovered. Exploring the power, mystery and significance of the house in our collective imagination, The Surreal House is also the first exhibition to probe the relationship between Surrealism and architecture. Designed by acclaimed architects Carmody Groarke.

The exhibition brings together over 170 works, many rarely shown in the UK, including painting, drawing, photography, film, installation and architecture. The Surreal House presents iconic works by first generation Surrealists such as Salvador Dal, Ren Magritte and Alberto Giacometti from the 1920s to 40s seen afresh alongside artists who the Surrealists claimed as their own such as Giorgio de Chirico and Le Facteur Cheval. Modern and contemporary artists include Edward Hopper, Louise Bourgeois and Rebecca Horn; contemporary architecture is represented by Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi and Diller+Scofidio, among others; whilst filmmakers include Maya Deren, Jean Cocteau, Andrei Tarkovsky and Jan vankmajer.Exhibition tickets from 8 online, more on the door.

Thu 10 JunFairytales 6.30pmOn the CouchWith award-winning comic artist Bryan Talbot in conversation with Brian Sibley. Organised in association with the Lewis Caroll Society.

710pmIn red tap shoes, party dress and a horses head, artist Helena Hunter dances through the labyrinthine corridors of The Surreal House in a performance that explores the animal self.

In the Conservatory Terrace, musician and artist Matthew Robins presents a rare acoustic performance of his illustrated shadow-play operettas, featuring excerpts from Aliens Silent Movie and Insect Opera, plus rare film screenings of Tessa Farmers macabre film An Insidious Intrusion (2007) and Polish artist Katarzyna Kozyras extraordinary Summertale (2008).

7.30pmSurrealism and Contemporary ArchitectureCinema 2/from 15 online and includes same day entry to exhibition.Join us in conversation for a fascinating look at Surrealisms contemporary architectural legacy with Wolf Prix, internationally renowned architect and co-founder of award-winning architectural design firm Coop Himmelb(l)au.

8.15pmAgain the Room was Plunged Into SilenceThe Pit/from 10 online and includes same day entry to exhibition. Using powerful imagery, electronic and live music, film and installation, MA students from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal College of Art present a new collaborative work inspired by The Surreal House. A MAP/making project.

Talks and EventsAll events are free to same day ticket holders and take place in Barbican Art Gallery unless otherwise stated.

Multi-Buy OfferPurchase three or more tickets to any Surreal House film, exhibition or event and receive 20% off (offer only available online, excludes events at the Freud Museum).

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Sat 12 Jun

2pmThrough the Keyhole Family WorkshopFrom 4 online Want to find your way into The Surreal House? Let artist Viyki Turnbull open the door.Age guidance 5+

Thu 17 JunCabinet of Curiosities6.30pmOn the CouchThe case for, and against the curious, with writer Sally OReilly.

710pmArtist Rich Wilson peddles a selection of bizarre consumer items, adorable rarities and dazzling inventions, with a catalogue to take away by artist Adam Latham.

Plus Tim Spooner, artist, poet and illustrator, performs The Grid of Life, in which a tall figure recites a dark libretto whilst dramatic scenes are created and demolished; and The Magic Bird Garden Room, a miniature performance presented for a small audience of two at a time.

8pmLost Luggage AuctionRedgrave Room, Level 4Bid on a mysterious suitcase full of forgotten items and Surreal House themed bric-a-brac at the lost luggage auction, organised by Wellers Auctions.

Thu 24 JunMagic and the Occult6.30pmOn the CouchWith Jan Birksted, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.

710pmAn evening with Better Place Portraiture: an ongoing collaboration between art-ists Flora Whitley, Darren Banks and Christopher Rollen,in which an attempt is made to contact the spirits of departed pets. Make an appointment for a one-to- one sance. Plus artist Salomon Rogbergs eerie film The Appearance (2008).

710pmOccult JamConservatory, Level 3Let culinary performance duo Bompas and Parr tempt you with Occult Jam, a special recipe featuring a range of unearthly ingredients, accompanied by a variety of strange and unexpected events throughout the evening.

Tue 29 Jun

7pmFreuds Encounters with Surrealism: Meeting Breton and DalFreud Museum/from 12 online.A fascinating talk with award-winning author and historian Janine Burke, Fellow at the Centre for Womens Studies and Gender Research, Monash University.

Thu 1 JulFun House6.30pmOn the CouchComedian Christopher Green reveals his alter ego, art historian Jedd OSullivan.

710pmCome one, come all and see the amazing Circus Hein! A special opportunity to see a film of artist Jeppe Heins project Circus Hein, a response to Alexander Calders own circus project from the 1920s.

Elsewhere in The Surreal House see Zoe Browns time-trapped film portraits of circus performers; Louise Weiss and Kazimierz Jankowski celebrate the launch of an imaginary exhibition for the Barbicans fourth floor; and Ole Hagen performs in the style of a circus master from a mystical travelling road show.

Sat 3 Jul

610pmMike Chavez Dawson & Len Horsey: Re-Motive ViewsTours throughout the evening.Selling The Surreal House as if it were a real house, Mike & Len take you on an unusual tour of the exhibition and beyond igniting your curiosity with time-share sales techniques, spirit guides and bizarre rituals.

Thu 8 JulHouse of Fear6.30pmOn the CouchWith Barry Curtis, Professor Emeritus, Middlesex University, and author of The Haunted House on Film.

710pmA chilling night of performance featuring new work by renowned artist and writer Brian Catling; macabre folk tales for grown-ups told by award-winning storyteller Pat Ryan, and an eerie installation from emerging artist Poppy Jackson.

Complete your fright-night with Marie-France & Patricia Martins hypnotic film Cest Comme Etre (2003), in which two female twins morph into the surroundings of a chandeliered room. Bring a pillow to hide behind!

7.30pmLe Corbusier and SurrealismCinema 2/from 15 online and includes same day entry to exhibition.Join acclaimed art historian Krzysztof Fijalkowski in conversation with Corbusier scholar T.J. Benton and architectural theorist Dagmar Weston.2

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Thu 15 JulWords6.30pmOn the CouchWith artist Richard Wentworth.

710pm Theatre of the Absurd present a UK premiere of Andr Breton, Robert Desnos and Benjamin Perets eccentric play What Lovely Weather, featuring imaginary stick insects, anteaters and monkeys.

Plus artists Anna Barham, Malin Stahl, Philomene Pirecki and Elizabeth McAlpine present new works exploring the spoken and written word in a surreal manner, and Barbican Young Poets respond to the exhibition with a selection of new readings.

7.30pmSurrealism, Philosophy & LiteratureCinema 2/from 15 online and includes same day entry to exhibition. Internationally acclaimed author, art historian and critic Mary Ann Caws joins Brian Dillon, writer and UK Editor of award-winning periodical Cabinet Magazine in conversation.

Thu 22 JulThe Fractured Body6.30pmOn the CouchWith art historian David Lomas.

710pmJoin Max Dewdney and Chee-Kit Lai of innovative young multi-disciplinary architecture practice Mobile Studio and their special guests for an evening exploring the theme The House as Body.

Sat 24 & Sun 25 JulBarbican WeekenderJoin us for a weekend full of surrealist games, workshops and surprises. Suitable for all ages.

Sat 24 Jul4pmIntroductory TalkLet Alona Pardo, Assistant Curator, Barbican Art Gallery share her insights into the The Surreal House.

7pmTai Shani: Last Night I Dreamt I was Venus from Beyond the MirrorsThe Pit/from 12 online and includes same day entry to exhibition.Centred around the sleeping Venus of Salvador Dals Dream of Venus Pavilion, this immersive and fantastical response to Dals iconic work devised by artist and filmmaker Tai Shani reassesses the work from a female perspective. Characters and props will be appropriated, altered and given their own voice within the dream space that Shani creates.

Sun 25 Jul4pmIntroductory TalkWhat goes into a surreal house? With Exhibition Researcher Eleanor Nairne.

Thu 29 JulFreud and Surrealism6.30pmOn the CouchWith writer and curator James Putnam.

710pmAn evening of films, interrogations and talks organised by The International Necronautical Society. The INS is a semi-fictional organisation founded by author and artist Tom McCarthy, closely modelled on the European avant-gardes of the early 20th Century.

7.30pmAne Lan: Dream Chamber The Pit/from 12 online and includes same day entry to exhibition.A female Freud interrogates a woman on the couch: her dreams are shown as films, and are narrated live by a countertenor.

Dream Chamber seeks to interpret and project the unconscious meaning of societys neurotic symptoms. The needs underlying these symptoms are difficult to acknowledge, hence our denial and self-delusion. We are invited to wake up.

A UK premiere by internationally acclaimed Norwegian artist Ane Lan.Contains subtitles.

Thu 5 AugVirtual Worlds6.30pmOn the CouchWith Neil Spiller, Professor of Architecture and Digital Theory at Bartlett School (UCL).

710pm Artist Mark Wayman invites you to join him on a bewildering, disorientating and psychedelic architectural tour that explores the surreal side of the Barbican Centre.Tours throughout the evening: meet in Barbican Art Gallery.

Plus see artist Jon Fawcetts Common Star (2005) a work that uses video and text to describe a huge non-physical object located aboveCentral London.

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Sat 7 Aug2pmThrough the Keyhole Family WorkshopFrom 4 online Want to find your way into The Surreal House? Let artist Viyki Turnbull open the door.Age guidance 5+

Thu 12 AugHouse of Childhood6.30pmOn the CouchWith Jane Alison, Curator of The Surreal House.

710pmJoin us for Surrealist games with artist duo Cupboard Under the Stairs, plus an immersive, dream-like performance of Geoff Coxs book Anna and the Witchs Bottle, by multimedia arts collective Blackmaps, featuring cult musician and actor Richard Strange.

Plus a rare screening of Joseph Cornells film The Midnights Party (c.1940), and Italian artist Jacopo Milianis uncanny yet strangely humorous film Down, Down, Down (2006).

Thu 19 AugConvulsive Architecture6.30pmOn the CouchWith award-winning architects and Surreal House exhibition designers, Carmody Groarke.

710pmIllustration collective Le Gun invite you to an evening of drawing, film and music. Help to create a gigantic, freeform drawing inspired by Facteur Chevals famous Palais Idal, to the beats of Victorian House Music played by their friends The Rubbish Men.

Also showing are John Bergers rarely-seen film on the Palais Idal, artist Volker Eichelmanns film Follies and Grottoes (2005), and cult US artist Jeremy Blakes psychedelic pseudo-documentary on the incredible Winchester Mystery House.

Sat 21 Aug2pmThrough the Keyhole Family WorkshopFrom 4 online Want to find your way into The Surreal House? Let artist Viyki Turnbull open the door.Age guidance 5+

Thu 26 AugErotic6.30pmOn the CouchWith Marina Wallace, Professor, Central Saint Martins.

711pmConservatory/from 12 online and includes same day entry to exhibition. Start the Bank Holiday weekend early with a decadent night of performance, film and music, featuring Londons top cabaret and alternative performers and you! Hosted by Lara Clifton, co-founder of the Whoopee Club, and the ever-flamboyant designer and stylist Johnny Blue Eyes. Remember to dress up!

Thu 2 SepThe Haunted House6.30pmOn the CouchWith best selling author, magician and psychologist, Richard Wiseman.

710pmA special screening of Brian Catling and Tony Grisonis extraordinary film Vanished! A Video Sance (1999), a recreation of an apparently true story in which a family living in an isolated house on the Isle of Man received visitations from Gef, a mongoose-like creature with yellow human hands.

Acclaimed artist Aura Satz presents her interactive haunted cabinet, I Am Anagram, inspired by Hans Bellmers notion of the body as a plastic anagram. Using techniques derived from stage magic, Satzs cabinet induces phantom limbs and sensory ghosts.

Elsewhere in The Surreal House, acclaimed artist Mark Aerial Waller presents a series of tableau vivants.

Thu 9 SepFemme Maison6.30pmOn the CouchWith Jazz Domino Holly, president and founding member of the Shoreditch Sisters W.1.

710pmMarcia Farquhar performs Rosebud, a shadow puppet play exploring the act of surrealist misdirection and inference, concerned with self-education, want of education, coyness and curiosity. Accompanied by Rose Bud III (2007), a short film about the performance by Bruce + Marshall.

There will also be the chance to see artist Lucile Desamorys self-help musical Countdown to Nothing (2004) and artist Ursula Mayers film Interiors (2006).

Sat 11 SepWhat is The Surreal House? 11am5pm Garden Room/from 20 online and includes same day entry to exhibition. What is the role and meaning of the house in modern and contemporary art, film, architecture and culture?

With Jane Alison, Senior Curator, Barbican Art Gallery; Gill Perry, Professor of Art History, OU; Barry Curtis, Professor of Art History, Royal College of Art; Brian Dillon, UK Editor of Cabinet; Dagmar Weston, Dr of Architectural Theory, Edinburgh University; Krysztof Fijalkowski, Dr of Art History, Norwich School of Art and James Lingwood, Co Director, Artangel. In association with the Open University.

Images

Front cover: Helena Hunter, 2009. Photo: Ana Rita Rodrigues Inside pages:1 Kataryna Kozyra, Summertale, 2008. Photo: Ela Baialkowska (Fairytales)2 Matthew Robins Matthew Robins (Fairytales)3 Better Place Portraiture Better Place Portraiture (Magic and the Occult)4 EVA, still image from No Venture Zoe Brown (Fun House)5 Brian Catling Brian Catling (House of Fear)6 Ane Lan, Dream Chamber. Photo: Jan Tore Jensen (Freud and Surrealism)7 Tim Spooner Tim Spooner, 2010 (Cabinet of Curiosities) Back Page:For Surreal Estate Agents, Mike Chavez Dawson & Len Horsey. Photo: Bec Garland, 2009

Fri 11 Jun

6pm The Directorspective: Terry Gilliam - Brazil 15Terry Gilliams masterpiece is a surrealistic nightmare vision of a perfect future where technology reigns supreme. Co-written by Gilliam with Tom Stoppard and Charles McKeown, Brazil is a thoughtful and visual feast starring Jonathan Pryce and Robert De Niro. UK 1985 Dir. Terry Gilliam 132 min.

8.45pm Buuel - Un Chien Andalou 15Famously opening with a close-up of a girls eye with a razor slicing slowly across it, Un Chien Andalous dreamlike cine-poem on sex, death and decay has prompted countless readings of its mysteries.France 1928 Dir. Luis Buuel, Salvador Dal 17 min.+ LAge dor 15Scabrous, sinister and strangely poignant. Buuel and Dals second collaboration remains perhaps the cinemas greatest ode to surrealism. France/Spain 1930 Dir. Luis Buuel 63 min.

Sat 12 Jun Family Film Club10.30am Movie Trolley Activities11am Playing House with Buster Keaton: One Week, The Scarecrow and The Haunted House + Live Musical Accompaniment A riotous concoction of silent film comedy from Buster Keaton all three films feature Buster and friends in less than ordinary domestic arrangements! US Dirs. Edward F. Cline & Buster Keaton 60 min.No unaccompanied adults or children.

2pmSilent Film & Live Music: The Mysteries of the Chateaux of Dice #The most well known of surrealist artist Man Rays film works, this achingly beautiful and evocative poem explores the meaning of chance and the transitory nature of the lives we lead. France 1929 Dir. Man Ray 29 min.+Architectures dAujourdhui #A documentary exploring themes in New French architecture and the relationships between client, architect and building.France 1930 Dir. Pierre Chenal / Le Corbusier 11 min. +Entracte #Clairs celebration of motion is a whos who of the Dada movement in Paris at the time, including Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray.France 1924 Dir. Ren Clair 16 min. With live accompaniment by Stephen Horne.

4pm Silent Film & Live Music: The Smiling Madame Beudet (La Souriante Madame Beudet) # The first explicitly feminist film about a woman crushed by an oppressive marriage, finding momentary freedom in fantasy. France 1922 Dir. Germaine Dulac 35 min.+The Seashell and the Clergyman (La Coquille et le clergyman) # The story of a clergyman who struggles against his lustful visions, Germaine Dulacs most renowned work was regarded as the first surrealist film. France 1928 Dir. Germaine Dulac 41 min. With live accompaniment by Lola Perrin.

6pm Blood of a Poet (Le Sang dun Pote) PGCocteaus enigmatic first feature is a fascinatingly surrealist tour-de-force, exploring the inner self of the poet within a series of imaginary events. France 1930 Dir. Jean Cocteau 55 min.+Meshes of the Afternoon #Maya Derens landmark, in which a woman is caught in a web of dream events which seem to spill over into reality. US 1943 Dir. Maya Deren 14 min.

The Surreal Film House Fri 11Thu 22 Jul In1930 Luis Buuel and Salvador Dal turned their extraordinary imagination to film, and produced cinemas greatest ode to Surrealism - Lage dor. Its attack on church, state, family and bourgeois values prompted riots and censorship, but paved the way for other directors to follow notions of Surrealism on film. This season explores the myriad trails of surrealist thought by visionary filmmakers.

Surreal House Multi-Buy OfferPurchase three or more tickets to any Surreal House film, exhibition or event and receive 20% off (offer only available online, excludes events at the Freud Museum).

All films will take place in Cinema 1, unless otherwise specified.

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8.45pm Dreams that Money Can Buy 12ADadaist Hans Richters experimental film about a man who sees his mind unfolding when looking at himself in a mirror. Each of the seven dream sequences are envisioned by a leading avant-garde artist, including Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, May Ray, Fernand Lger and Alexander Calder. US 1947 Dir. Hans Richter 99 min.

Sun 13 Jun

4pm Silent Film & Live Music: The Fall of the House of Usher (La Chute de la maison Usher) PGJean Epsteins mesmerising adaptation of Poes famous story. Assisted by a young Luis Buuel, Epstein used a variety of techniques to create a dreamy, chilling, surreal masterpiece. France 1928 Dir. Jean Epstein 63 min. With live accompaniment by Southwell Collective.

6pm The Directorspective: Terry Gilliam - The Adventures of Baron Munchausen PG Gilliams astounding visual imagination runs riot as Baron Munchausen and a young girl travel to the moon, fall into the belching Mt. Etna, and are swallowed by a monster fish. UK 1988 Dir. Terry Gilliam 126 min.

8.45pm La Belle Et La Bte (Beauty and the Beast) PG Jean Cocteaus magical fantasy with Georges Aurics gorgeous score enrich an enchanting fable and one of the masterpieces of world cinema. France 1946 Dir. Jean Cocteau 93 min.

Mon 14 Jun

6pm The Directorspective: Terry Gilliam - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 18Gilliams adaptation of Hunter S. Thompsons 1971 cult book emerges as a brilliant, funny satire about the death of the 60s as it explores the soul of American dementia. US 1998 Dir. Terry Gilliam 119 min.

8.45pm The Directorspective: Terry Gilliam - The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus 12AStarring Heath Ledger in his last role, Imaginarium has all the incomparable quirkiness and attention to visual detail of the very finest Gilliam fare. France/Canada/UK 2009 Dir. Terry Gilliam 122 min.

Wed 16 Jun

6pm Belle de Jour 18Buuels winner of the Golden Lion at the 1968 Venice Film Festival starring Catherine Deneuve as a woman with a double life. France/Italy 1967 Dir. Luis Buuel 100 min.

8.45pm The Discreet Charm of The Bourgeoisie 15A group of wealthy middle class friends gather at a country house, but their host is strangely absent, and all their attempts to dine together are mysteriously frustrated. A hilarious satire on bourgeois codes and manners. France 1972 Dir. Luis Buuel 105 min.

Thu 17 Jun

6pm The Masque of the Red Death 15Roger Cormans stylish adaptation of Poes tale about evil Prince Prospero, who plots terror and mayhem as the Plague ravages the countryside. UK 1963 Dir. Roger Corman 84 min.

Tue 6 & Wed 7 Jul

7pmFilm at Freuds House: Rebecca #Freud Museum/from 12 online.Introduced by Andrea Sabbadini (Tue) and Justine Picardie (Wed).Join us at the Freud Museum for this very special off-site screening. A dark secret lurks down the road to Mandalay for troubled lovers Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine in this Oscar winning adaptation of Daphne du Mauriers classic thriller.UK 1940 Dir. Alfred Hitchcock 130 min.

Sun 18 Jul

6pm Blue Velvet 18 A seminal contribution to the genre of surrealist film. When a man finds a severed ear in a field, his investigations reveal a sinister underworld lurking beneath the respectable surface of his home town. US 1986 Dir. David Lynch 120 min.

8.15pm Eraserhead 15David Lynchs entrancing first feature is a grainy surrealist fantasy that mixes horror and science fiction in the bizarre story of a social misfit who finds himself the father of a half-human monster. US 1976 Dir. David Lynch 90 min.

Mon 19 Jul

8.45pmPans Labyrinth 15Weaving together a fantastical labyrinthine world and the harsh reality of Francos regime, Pans Labyrinth is a potent Spanish myth depicting the horror of fascism. Mexico/Spain/US 2006 Dir. Guillermo del Toro 119 min.

Thu 22 Jul

6pm Alice In Wonderland 3D PGTim Burton works his own brand of surrealist magic on the Lewis Carroll classic, confirming that his imagination is as vast as the rabbit hole is deep. With Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp and Ann Hathaway.US 2010 Dir. Tim Burton 108 min.

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Late Events Every Thursday until 10pmEvery Thursday, The Surreal House throws open its doors until 10pm for a spellbinding night of performances, artist films and events. Join guest speakers On the Couch to talk about life, art and the houses that populate their dreams. Gain unique insight into the theory of Surrealism and the unconscious mind with leading scholars in a series of complimentary talks and discussions, and enjoy surreal drinks with friends at the bar. With thanks to our associate partners, the Freud Museum.Please check website for timings of performance and screenings.

Surreal House Multi-Buy OfferPurchase three or more tickets to any Surreal House film, exhibition or event and receive 20% off (offer only available online, excludes events at the Freud Museum).

Exhibition tickets from 8 online. Film tickets from 7.50 online.

Art Gallery ShopVisit the Art Gallery Shop for surreal inspired gifts as well as a selection of inspirational objects, books and curiosities.

Opening HoursOpen daily 11am8pm (except Tue and Wed until 6pm)Late night every Thu until 10pm

Barbican Art GalleryBarbican Centre, Silk StreetLondon EC2Y 8DS Barbican/Moorgate0844 848 8270barbican.org.uk/101

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