Leonora Carrington: Navigating a World Down Below

Why It Matters

The symposium equips future curators with experiential learning while re‑positioning Carrington’s surrealist practice as a catalyst for contemporary eco‑feminist discourse, bridging art history and climate activism.

Key Takeaways

• Students co‑lead a multi‑institution symposium on Leonora Carrington.
• Program links Carrington’s surrealism to eco‑feminist theory and climate concerns.
• Keynote by Cambridge professor Alice Mon explores Carrington’s 1961 manifesto.
• Performance art by Rose English connects historic work to contemporary practice.
• Partnerships with local cafés provide discounts, enhancing attendee experience.

Summary

The second day of the "Leonora Carrington: Navigating a World Down Below" symposium was organized by four MA curating students from the Portto program in partnership with the Freud (Ford) Museum. Under the mentorship of faculty and museum curators Vanessa Bowie and Tom D. Rose, the students coordinated a full‑day program that blends academic panels, keynote lectures, and performance art, showcasing the institution’s commitment to hands‑on curatorial training.

The agenda foregrounds Carrington’s surrealist legacy through an eco‑feminist lens. Highlights include a keynote by Cambridge professor Alice Mon, who will dissect Carrington’s 1961 manifesto and its relevance to contemporary ecological activism, and a series of papers exploring love, trauma, madness, and agency in Carrington’s oeuvre. The symposium also features a commissioned performance by Rose English, "My Mathematics," linking historic surrealist themes to present‑day artistic practice.

Speakers cited Carrington’s early eco‑feminist writings, quoting her call for women to control population and reject war as a planetary salvation strategy. The event also referenced a newly uncovered Carrington painting reported in the Guardian and drew parallels between the artist’s apocalyptic visions and current climate anxieties, underscoring the enduring resonance of her work.

For emerging curators, the symposium offers a model of interdisciplinary collaboration, public engagement, and real‑world project management. By situating Carrington’s surrealism within urgent ecological debates, the program amplifies both the artist’s relevance and the museum’s role in fostering socially conscious scholarship.

Original Description

The Courtauld Institute MA Curating programme is delighted to stage this conference in partnership with the Freud Museum, exploring the life and work of Leonora Carrington. The conference begins with an introductory evening at the Freud Museum, including a welcome drink, presentations contextualising their current special exhibition, Leonora Carrington: The Symptomatic Surreal, and an opportunity to view the exhibition out of hours. The second day at the Courtauld Institute brings together an international panel of Carrington scholars to discuss her work from a number of different academic perspectives.

This conference is organised in conjunction with the Freud Museum’s current exhibition, The Symptomatic Surreal, curated by Vanessa Boni. The exhibition is the first dedicated to drawings from Carrington’s Santander sketchbooks, offering a unique vantage point from which to reconsider the artist’s wartime output. In these works, Carrington gives form to her psychological crisis through alchemical symbolism, human–animal hybrids, and depictions of the underworld. At the centre of the exhibition stands Down Below (1940), painted during her hospitalisation and serving as a key anchor for the exhibition. Carrington later described this period of her life as being “down below.”

Leonora Carrington: Navigating a World Down Below is organised by Cecilia Brandon-Cross, Ana Karime Sierra, Han Lu Tao and Sarah Vidalin as part of the Courtauld’s MA Curating programme in collaboration with the Freud Museum, where the exhibition Leonora Carrington: The Symptomatic Surreal is presented from 25 Mar to 28 Jun 2026.