Things are getting Surreal at the V&A

Surreal Things at the V&A

The V&A will be exploring the influence Surrealism has had on the worlds of fashion, design, film, architecture and advertising in its latest exhibition.

Over 300 items will be go display including Elsa Schiaparelli's Skeleton dress, Meret Oppenheim's Table with Bird's Legs and many famous works by Salvador Dali including his Mae West Lips Sofa, Lobster Telephone and Venus de Milo with Drawers.

Giorgio de Chirico's costumes and set designs for Diaghilev's Le Bal will also be shown along with film clips such as the dream sequence from Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound, and a case study of Monkton, the purple-painted Sussex home of the English Surrealist patron Edward James.

A full line-up of performances, workshops and demonstrations will accompany the exhibition. Highlights include a talk by legendary cartoonist Ralph Steadman in which he promises to 'embrace the rules of Surrealism, which don't exist', a Surrealist Ball and chocolate sculpting demonstrations by Choccywoccydoodah.