Tilda Swinton – Ongoing

Because believe it or not, Swinton has been a bisexual lawyer, an alien observing humanity’s self-destruction, David Bowie’s music video wife, and a living exhibit in the 1995 installation The Maybe, where she slept eight hours a day in a glass box in public. She’s played an eighty-year-old woman in Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, Mozart on a theatre stage, and of course, Orlando – the immortal aristocrat who lives for four hundred years and transforms from man to woman. And even more than that, she’s a mother of twins, went to the same boarding school for girls as Lady Diana, worked in a township in South Africa, posed in high fashion looks for enchanting and captivating editorials and seems to be the only one to make simple Chanel outfits look edgy. And in these forty years of an incredibly diverse career, Swinton has built unique bonds and creative friendships across the industry. 

So, it makes total sense that these relationships are a central part of the Amsterdam exhibition, a retrospective dedicated to her collaborations with creative minds like Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, fashion photographer Tim Walker, filmmaker Joanna Hogg, director Luca Guadagnino, and four more. Yes, eight artistic partners in total. Each of them contributed either existing or completely new works: performances, films, photographs — all of them portraits of Swinton’s many lives and her captivating passion for experimental, political, and eccentric self-expression.

Take Flat 19, for example, a multimedia reconstruction of the London apartment Swinton lived in during the ‘80s. She created it together with Hogg, the British director and screenwriter known for films like The Souvenir (2019) and The Eternal Daughter (2022) — both starring Swinton, in case you didn’t know. Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, on the other hand, reworked footage from his absurdist zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die (2019) into a completely new installation, re-contextualising it through fresh editing, image treatments, and soundtrack.

At the same time, together with French art historian, curator, and author Olivier Saillard, Swinton created a multi-day performance that brings a very special wardrobe to life: pieces from her personal closet, film costumes, red carpet looks, and even family heirlooms. But don’t worry; once the performance ends, the garments will still be on display at Eye. And if you’re wondering why family heirlooms are relevant here: Swinton is a descendant of one of Scotland’s oldest clans – you guessed it – the Swinton Clan, a dynasty of knights, lords, and scrappers going back to the 11th century. Fun fact: the name Swinton was originally awarded for the brave act of clearing the land of wild boar.

That legacy also inspired Walker’s exhibit for Tilda Swinton – Ongoing. Normally, he shoots her in surreal settings — huge dresses, white-painted face, lush gardens, or apocalyptic landscapes. But this time, he travelled to her family home in Scotland to create an intimate photo series about ancestry and the continuity of place. Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul took a different approach: he prepared a meditative, intriguing installation where the presence of spirits and ancestors becomes almost tangible.

One of Swinton’s oldest – and definitely dearest – friends featured in the exhibition is the late filmmaker Derek Jarman. Together, they made nine films before his death in 1994. His Caravaggio from the mid-’80s was also her cinematic debut, so obviously, he couldn’t be left out: There’s a segment from The Last of England (1987) on display, along with personal objects from their shared time and never-before-seen Super 8 footage.

But hey, I’ve already said too much. If you want to experience the exhibit, you’ll have to go to Amsterdam yourself. Or attend one of the many talks featuring Swinton in conversation with her collaborators. The next one, for example, is a discussion with Luca Guadagnino on November 2nd. So, hurry — maybe you’ll get lucky and score a ticket.

All in all, Tilda Swinton – Ongoing is a beautiful, creatively unique way to honour the actress. To learn more about the incredible things she’s done, to get inspired, and to celebrate artistic friendship and collaboration. My personal suggestion: before or after the exhibition, ask yourself – what would your friends create if there were an exhibition about you? I’m pretty sure mine would rock it. Maybe not quite as hard as Swinton’s crew… But still.