Breaking Lines

Although better known today for its contribution to the visual arts, Italian Futurism was in fact founded and led by a poet - Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. The many writers who gravitated toward the movement went on to produce a body of work that was as groundbreaking as that of its painters. Futurism and the Origins of Experimental Poetry charts the distinct phases through which Futurist poetry passed, with a particular focus on those forms of experimentation that reflected the movement’s desire to “redouble the expressive force of words” by emphasising and exploiting the visual and/or sonic dimensions of language. 

The show includes rare original editions of works including Fortunato Depero’s famous ‘bolted book’ Depero futurista, as well as newspapers and journals such as L’Italia futurista,which made a significant contribution to the dissemination of new poetic research and helped establish an international avant-garde network. 

This display complements an exhibition focusing on the work of Dom Sylvester Houédard (1924–1992), widely recognised as one of the masters of concrete poetry. A Benedictine monk and noted theologian, Houédard wrote extensively on new approaches to creativity, spirituality and philosophy, and collaborated with figures such as Gustav Metzger, Yoko Ono and John Cage. His work, which blurs the boundaries between literature and visual art, helped shape the development of post-war British poetry, and also influenced the global experimental poetry. movement. Works by a number of other British exponents of concrete poetry, including Ian Hamilton Finlay, John Furnival and Bob Cobbing will also be on display.