The Themersons: 1 Day Before Yesterday – 1 Day After Tomorrow

Download the programme schedule here

A day of presentations, talks, events, and films about the multifaceted and encompassing collaboration of the Themersons (Franciszka Themerson, 1907-1988, and Stefan Themerson, 1910-1988) that traverses six decades. Surviving on a diet of interrelated activities and a refusal to conform, the couple’s output defied categories and covered experimental films, drawings, photograms, independent publishing, novels, and children books, essays on philosophy, language, ethics, art, typography and more.

In 1948, the Themersons founded the Gaberbocchus Press in London, 'to be free to publish what they wanted and in what form they wanted.' And they published over sixty titles in the next 30 years by writers and visionaries such as Alfred Jarry, Raymond Queneau, Heinrich Heine, Kurt Schwitters, Bertrand Russell, Barbara Wright, as well as books of their own.

As an offshoot from the press the Themerson’s hosted from 1957-59 the Gaberbocchus Common Room in the basement of the press on Formosa Street as a place where likeminded people from the arts and sciences convened on a weekly basis for lectures, discussions, film shows, readings and music recitals.

The events at the ICA adopt their spirit, and present work by the Themersons and other projects that continue to defy categories in their vein.

Programme
12.15 – 5pm

• Jasia Reichardt, The Themersons and the Art of Translation
• Interlude – Manuel Graf, Über die aus der Zukunft fließende Zeit / about the time flowing from future, 2006
• Nick Wadley, Stefan Themerson, Picturing Ideas
• Interlude – Stefan Themerson, Semantic Sonata, 1949–50
• Barnaby Dicker, Reflecting on Franciszka Themerson's Ubu Comic Strip
• Interlude – Franciszka and Stefan Themerson, The Eye and the Ear, London, 1944-5
• Robin Kinross, Stefan Themerson, Anthony Froshaug, and typography
• Interlude – Gunvor Nelson, My Name is Oona, 1969, 10 min
• Drawing Room Confessions
• Interlude: Agnieszka Polska, The Forgetting of Proper Names, 2009
• A Circular with Patrick Coyle: The poet is a fake fancying feigner who feign and conceal a faker is a pretender is a feigner is a forger who is a forger is a pretender are liars an inventor pretending a feigner pretend a faker.
• Erik Van Zuylen, Stefan Themerson and Language, 1976 – Introduced by Erik Van Zuylen

Live Event: Factory Floor
9pm
Factory Floor improvise a soundtrack in response to Dan Tombs visual response to the Themersons film The Eye and The Ear. (Tickets sold seperately - £8/£7 Concessions/£5 ICA Members)

Supported by The Polish Cultural Institute in London and the Themerson Archive

Download the programme schedule here