Isaac Julien’s Museum Dreams

Isaac Julien’s Museum Dreams expands the conceptual field of his survey exhibition at gres art 671 in Bergamo, transforming the publication into a reflective space in its own format. 

Rather than documenting the exhibition in a conventional sense, the publication unfolds as a montage of series of images, texts, and sequences resembling Julien’s multi-screen installation art.

At the core of Museum Dreams lies Julien’s enduring focus on the museum as a site of desire and contradiction. The Bergamo exhibition, situated in a repurposed industrial space, already complicates this framework by displacing the traditional museum setting. The publication deepens this inquiry, turning the printed page into a  gallery where images and texts are sequenced to evoke movement and reverie.

The publication features an exceptional group of contributors whose essays deepen and expand on Julien’s art.

Julian Lucas offers a new reading of Once Again… (Statues Never Die), Giuliana Bruno brings her signature elegance to Lina Bo Bardi – A Marvellous Entanglement, José Esteban Muñoz’s text on The Long Road to Mazatlán reflects on queerness and utopia, resonating with Julien’s notion of “dreaming” as a critical act. Curator Nathan Ladd provides a nuanced perspective on Vagabondia and Baltimore, articulating their place within the exhibition and Julien’s broader work.

Together, these essays form a rich, compelling dialogue that elevates Museum Dreams into something far more than a publication: a beautifully layered work of criticism and reflections about art in book form.