Abstract
Today there are essentially two groups of people concerned with Surrealism: those who consider themselves practitioners of it and those devoted to its scholarship. Surrealism discovered and exalted the power of the image. The image newly created: the chance encounter of an umbrella and sewing machine on a dissecting table; a fur-covered cup and sauce; an octopus typewriter. Celebrating chance as its guide, talent plays no part in Surrealism. There are many imitators of Surrealism, fabulous images in movies; the word “surrealist” will be used as a synonym for inexplicable, unimaginable. Surrealism points at the blistered tree. It allows us to see the wedding of purple and understand our purpose and our connections; it helps us leave an uneventful trance. Contemporary Afrosurrealism in art, literature, criticism, film, fashion, and political consciousness continues to push the horizon of Surrealism beyond the troubled present and into a better future.