Independent photojournalism and documentary photography are indispensable tools of political education for a democratic society and an essential part of shaping public opinion—especially in our so-called ‘post-factual’ times. In recognition of this, the independent non-profit organization World Press Photo Foundation, based in Amsterdam, has been presenting the World Press Photo Award for the best photo, the best story, the best longterm project of the year for more than six decades. The winning images in the various categories tell bold stories and provide invaluable insights into the state of our world.

Surrealism was not only an international artistic movement, but also a political one. Its members denounced European colonial policy, opposed fascist regimes, fought for the Spanish Republic, were persecuted, went into exile, and died in war. They wrote poetry, deconstructed the language of a supposedly rational world, worked on paintings, collective drawings, took photographs, and made collages. Surrealism was associated with later emancipatory concerns not as a style, but as a method, and was taken up by the student protests of the 1960s and the Black Liberation Movement. This catalogue is published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Lenbachhaus Munich. In the form of an anthology, it presents pivotal texts and manifestoes of political Surrealism from its beginnings to current references in art and politics. It thus offers a valuable contribution to revising the still narrowly defined Surrealist canon.

The fascination of the North is enduring: vast, impenetrable coniferous forests on the edge of the Arctic polar region, "white" summer nights, the long darkness of snowy winters and the famous Northern Lights exert a magical attraction. The Fondation Beyeler is dedicating an exhibition to this global phenomenon with landscape paintings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Scandinavia, Finland and Canada. In addition to works by famous painters such as Edvard Munch, Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Hilma af Klint, it also features paintings by artists who are highly respected in their home countries, but who—unjustly—have been virtually unknown in Central Europe until now. The Nordic pictorial worlds of Harald Sohlberg, Gustaf Fjæstad, Emily Carr, Tom Thomson and Prince Eugen of Sweden are finally being presented to a wide audience. Other artists represented in the exhibition and catalogue are Ivan Shishkin, Anna Boberg, Helmi Biese, Lawren S. Harris and J. E. H. Macdonald.