Tilda Swinton Is Getting Her Own Museum Retrospective

An Oscar-winning star with the mystique of a cult icon, Tilda Swinton’s cross-creative career is one that defines convention. From her debut in Derek Jarman’s 1986 Caravaggio biopic to playing an eccentric art critic in Julio Torres’ Problemista, her ties to the art world run deep, blurring the lines between mainstream success and the avant-garde every step of the way.

This September, the performer, fashion icon and art darling will head to the Eye Filmmuseum for the occassion of Tilda Swinton – Ongoing, a retrospective exhibition tracing through her career and collaborations, curated by Swinton herself.

“With the honour of this extraordinary invitation, Eye has given me the opportunity to reflect on the mechanics of my working practice over the past forty years,” Swinton expressed in a recent press statement. “And to come to rest on the – ever present – bedrock and battery of the close fellowships I found from the very first and continue to rely upon to this day.”

The exhibition showcases eight pieces created alongside her most celebrated creative allies across film, art and fashion. Visitors will see collaborations with filmmakers Luca Guadagnino, Joanna Hogg, Pedro Almodóvar, Jim Jarmusch, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, along with a never-before-seen 8mm piece by the late Jarman. In song with show’s cinematic elements, photographer Tim Walker captures her personal and artistic evolution, while fashion historian and curator Olivier Saillard will craft a performance and installation dedicated to Swinton’s sartorial legacy.

“An ongoing – and unbroken – thread of breadcrumbs through the wood, new leaves on long-established trees. The perpetual seedbed. I should be so lucky, in the gift of such an invitation, in such friends and in such a life.”

Tilda Swinton – Ongoing will open in Amsterdam on September 28. For more information on the exhibition, check out Eye Filmmuseum’s website.