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For Russell Tovey, the modern world is getting more surreal at a time when the original art movement is 100 years old. Surrealism was pioneered by a group of young disrupters in Paris, and it was as meaningful and resonant then, as it is now, but for different reasons.

Today, Russell explores the roots of the movement. The first 'Surrealist Manifesto' was published in Paris in October 1924 by Andre Breton, who presented Surrealism as nothing short of a revolution to liberate mankind, proposing that the world could be re-made by unlocking the power of dreams.

Surrealism emerged when Europe was disfigured by war and Breton and his fellow Surrealists were disillusioned by the strict rationality that had led to mechanised mass destruction. Many of the Surrealists were committed Marxists and, for them, exploring their unconscious minds was a political act, designed to have a revolutionary impact. The Surrealist’s desire to remake their world by plumbing the depths of the unconscious mind was also inspired by Sigmund Freud.

While Breton's manifesto was mainly concerned with writing, the ideas of Surrealism were also nurtured by visual artists, including Rene Magritte, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst and, most famously, Salvador Dalí. Surrealism rippled out from Paris via the ground-breaking International Surrealist Exhibition in London, during the Summer of 1936. This seemed to open a ‘portal into another way of seeing the world’ for many people who were interested in what this would mean for the future.

With Dawn Ades, Louisa Buck, Kate Conley, Martin Creed, Felicity Gee, Darian Leader, Lisa Mullen, Mark Polizzotti, Vic Reeves, David Shrigley, Abigail Susik and Gavin Turk.

Producers: Melissa FitzGerald and Eliane Glaser
Sound Design: Tony Churnside
A Zinc Audio production for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 4

Cover Photo: Martin Creed and Russell Tovey