Tilda Swinton @Eye Filmmuseum
Tilda Swinton - Ongoing // visited on 15-10-2025
_about
This autumn, Eye presents Tilda Swinton – Ongoing, an exclusive exhibition dedicated to the celebrated Scottish performer, artist, and fashion icon. This unique and personal exhibition centres on Swinton’s creative collaborations. She will showcase new and existing work by eight artistic partners and close friends: Pedro Almodóvar, Luca Guadagnino, Joanna Hogg, Derek Jarman, Jim Jarmusch, Olivier Saillard, Tim Walker and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. This marks the first time that Eye Filmmuseum has devoted such extensive attention to the creative influence of a performer. // info from official webpage
_highlights
▲ Probably one of my favourite works was Flat 19. It was done together with her childhood friend and filmmaker Joanna Hogg: a multimedia reconstruction of her 1980s London apartment. They see it as "an exploration of memory, space and personal history". I walked down the hallway and listened to the different stories coming from behind the half-opened doors. When I sat in the empty living room, it smelled of London. I am not sure how that was possible, but it was very, very present for me.
Tilda moved to an apartment near King's Road in London in 1983 and lived there for 15 years. With the reconstruction of the flat, together with Joanna Hog, they created a multi-media installation: a hallway with slightly opened doors and sonic stories from the years when Tilda lived there, told by her mesmerising voice.
▲ The whole exhibition felt quite intimate: I felt like I was meeting her, I felt quite close to her. The selection of short movies I saw was so lovely and unconventional for me, it brought me close to her spirit, I think. I loved seeing her walking in the nature with that bright red sweater and the final moment when she turns to the camera is so Tilda! I can watch it again and again (you can see it in the last scene in the trailer).
▲ The older shootings were also quite interesting. For instance, there are some timeslips from the 80s, shot with a Super8 camera. They are part of her early-career collaborations with Derek Jarman.
Finally, Swinton pays tribute to one of her greatest inspirations, filmmaker Derek Jarman (1942–1994), with whom she made a total of nine films. A segment from The Last of England (1987) will be shown as an installation, alongside personal objects from Swinton related to their shared time and collaboration, as well as never-before-seen Super 8 footage—featuring Swinton as performer. // info from the official webpage
▲ It was really relaxing to see Phantoms (2025): Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul visited her family home in Scotland and created a dreamy and hypnotising film.