Hilma af Klint, The Swan, No. 1, Group IX/SUW, 1915 Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints Verk. Photo: Albin Dahlström/Moderna Museet
The Art of Seeing the Invisible
Symposium on Hilma af Klint and other visionaries
24.5 2013 – 25.5 2013
Stockholm
The Art of Seeing the Invisible – On Hilma af Klint and Other Visionaries
Friday 24 May 4 pm-6.10 pm
Saturday 25 May 10.15 am-5.40 pm
In the Auditorium
Language: English
Free entrance and a limited amount of seats.
Registration is required, so please send an email indicating on which day/s you would like to attend to: hilma@axess.se
Speakers
Dr. Tessel Bauduin, Prof. Thierry de Duve, Prof. Briony Fer, Dr. Victoria Ferentinou, Prof. Wouter Hanegraaff, Prof. Stephen Kern, Mr. Gary Lachman, Prof. David Lomas, Dr. Iris Müller-Westermann, Prof. Andrei Nakov, Dr. Marco Pasi, Prof. Raphael Rosenberg, Prof. Christoph Wagner, among others.
About the exhibition: Hilma af Klint – A Pioneer of Abstraction
This international, interdisciplinary colloquium aims at examining the zeitgeist during the turn of the 20th century with its dramatic interplay between the revolutionary new expressions within the arts on the one hand and scientific breakthroughs on the other. Many of these parallel developments carried a strong fascination with, and were greatly inspired by, the ideas coming from the occult currents at the time such as Spiritualism, Theosophy and Anthroposophy and by their charismatic leaders.
What were the causes for this eruption of creative visionaries at this particular point in time? What are the commonalities behind their ideas and expressions and in what ways did they give shape to the new forms of art as well as views of humanity in the new century? How can we understand the occult roots of modernity, the idea of the individual and the beginning of abstract art? How was the cultural, historical and physical reality changed in a time of radical technological breakthroughs as the X-ray, electromagnetic waves and the Morse-code? What can we learn of this intriguing interplay between the artistic, scientific, cultural and spiritual spheres? Who were Hilma af Klint’s contemporaries and in what way did these ideas influence her and them?
The colloquium is arranged by Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson foundation in collaboration with Moderna Museet in order to create a dynamic discussion about Hilma af Klint and her historical context as well as to further the understanding of the influences of the occult ideas upon art and science during the turn of the 20th century, as a part of the Ax:son Johnson Foundation’s ongoing effort to further the dissemination of scholarly knowledge.