Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles
The UCLA Center for Performance Studies and the Surrealist Study Group (SSG) are delighted to invite you to attend our upcoming symposium! Surrealism & Anti-Fascism: A Symposium Presented by UCLA Performance Art Studies and The Surrealist Study Group, in collaboration with the Philosophical Research Society This unique gathering brings together artists, scholars, and the public to explore the power of surrealist methods—past and present—as tools for resisting systems of domination and imagining new possibilities for being. From spiritual resistance to cultural subversion, surrealism has long offered a way to sidestep the normative, the colonial, and the fascistic in pursuit of radical freedom and imagination. Together, we will examine the contradictions and complexities within the Surrealist tradition and its entanglements with institutional power, gender, and race. And to discuss in community its enduring potential to challenge conformity and ignite creative transformation. Highlights of the day include: A panel discussion titled “Surrealist Histories Rewritten,” featuring leading California-based scholars and artists A reception where guests can connect A second panel discussion titled “Antifascist & Surrealist Methods in the Present,” where contemporary artists and thinkers reflect on how surrealist practice can be mobilized as a mode of resistance in today’s world This symposium is a call to those who believe that art, performance, spirituality, and speculation can resist the flattening forces of fascism and imagine otherwise worlds. We invite you to be part of this critical and creative conversation.