Curating the Omnipotence of Dream: Evidence of Outputs - exhibition and conference documentation

The Omnipotence of Dream was conceived to mark the centenary of André Breton’s Manifesto of Surrealism (1924). The project re-examines Surrealism’s legacy through the lens of contemporary queer, trans, and feminist theory, challenging the historical exclusions embedded within the movement’s patriarchal and heteronormative narratives. Drawing on a lineage of scholarship that includes Dawn Ades, Hal Foster, and Jennifer Mundy, this research investigates how curatorial and artistic practice can generate new, inclusive readings of Surrealism’s psychological and political dimensions in a twenty-first-century context.The project responds to the ongoing critical re-evaluation of Surrealism’s influence on contemporary art, exploring how artists and curators can reconceptualise “the marvellous” as an inclusive, embodied, and post-digital condition. In doing so, it contributes to debates in transhistorical curation, practice-as-research, and intersectional art history, aligning with current research at the University of Salford and Leeds Arts University on collaborative and socially engaged curatorial models.