26 – 27 September 2026
As pioneers of the structural film movement, Michael Snow (1929-2023) and Joyce Wieland (1930-1998) reshaped and redefined experimental cinema.
Joyce Wieland rose to prominence as a successful painter in the 1950s, before expanding her practice as a conceptual artist and filmmaker. Her films' blend of formal creativity and political engagement proved hugely influential for the generations that followed.
Michael Snow's radical cinema, meanwhile, quickly became known for pushing at the medium's representational limits while also highlighting its unique properties. Snow and Wieland married in 1956 and moved to New York at the start of the 1960s, establishing themselves at the forefront of the avant-garde.
In collaboration with Dream of Light, a London-based film project that champions experimental and underseen cinema, the ICA presents a weekend of work by the two filmmakers.
As pioneers of the structural film movement, Michael Snow (1929-2023) and Joyce Wieland (1930-1998) reshaped and redefined experimental cinema.
Joyce Wieland rose to prominence as a successful painter in the 1950s, before expanding her practice as a conceptual artist and filmmaker. Her films' blend of formal creativity and political engagement proved hugely influential for the generations that followed.
Michael Snow's radical cinema, meanwhile, quickly became known for pushing at the medium's representational limits while also highlighting its unique properties. Snow and Wieland married in 1956 and moved to New York at the start of the 1960s, establishing themselves at the forefront of the avant-garde.
In collaboration with Dream of Light, a London-based film project that champions experimental and underseen cinema, the ICA presents a weekend of work by the two filmmakers.
Programme
Saturday 26 September 2026, 1.30pm
Back and Forth + To Lavoisier, Who Died In The Reign of Terror on 16mm
A double bill of Canadian structuralist filmmaker Michael Snow's Back and Forth (1969) and To Lavoisier, Who Died In The Reign of Terror (1991) which complicate the relationship between viewer and image, between representation and abstraction.
Saturday 26 September 2026, 4pm
La Raison Avant La Passion + A&B in Ontario on 16mm
A double bill of conceptual Canadian artist Joyce Wieland's La Raison Avant La Passion (1969), a subversive travelogue; and A&B in Ontario (1984), a lighthearted portrait of its two makers Wieland and Hollis Frampton.
Sunday 27 September, 12.30pm
Rameau's Nephew by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen on 16mm
Taking its title from a dialogue by French satirist Denis Diderot, Canadian structuralist filmmaker Michael Snow's film is also inspired by Diderot's encyclopaedic tendencies and the playfulness of Marcel Duchamp, and features contributions and appearances from Chantal Akerman, Babette Mangolte, Jonas Mekas, Annette Michelson, Nam June Paik, Amy Taubin and Joyce Wieland.
Saturday 26 September 2026, 1.30pm
Back and Forth + To Lavoisier, Who Died In The Reign of Terror on 16mm
A double bill of Canadian structuralist filmmaker Michael Snow's Back and Forth (1969) and To Lavoisier, Who Died In The Reign of Terror (1991) which complicate the relationship between viewer and image, between representation and abstraction.
Saturday 26 September 2026, 4pm
La Raison Avant La Passion + A&B in Ontario on 16mm
A double bill of conceptual Canadian artist Joyce Wieland's La Raison Avant La Passion (1969), a subversive travelogue; and A&B in Ontario (1984), a lighthearted portrait of its two makers Wieland and Hollis Frampton.
Sunday 27 September, 12.30pm
Rameau's Nephew by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen on 16mm
Taking its title from a dialogue by French satirist Denis Diderot, Canadian structuralist filmmaker Michael Snow's film is also inspired by Diderot's encyclopaedic tendencies and the playfulness of Marcel Duchamp, and features contributions and appearances from Chantal Akerman, Babette Mangolte, Jonas Mekas, Annette Michelson, Nam June Paik, Amy Taubin and Joyce Wieland.
