Bruton is our home
Bruton is our home — the sum of our collective experiences, whatever they may be. But there’s a parallel reality: an island paradise hailed as the new Notting Hill; a playground of the rich and famous; a high street idling with Lamborghinis and Range Rovers; mouth‑watering culinary delights at every turn.
This exhibition holds the two at once: the reality and the illusion, the utopia and the dystopia — and asks, what really is the island paradise of Brutopia?
You the artist
We all know what Bruton means to us. But what does the illusion of Bruton mean to you? This exhibition invites you to imagine Brutopia, a parallel reality & satirical reimagining of the island paradise. Does Brutopia live up to the headlines or is it more of a dystopia?
The History Bit
In 1516 Thomas More, High Chancellor to Henry VIll, published a book called ‘Utopia’, an imagined fictional island in which everything was “perfect”. More's Utopia was a socio-political satire. The book depicts a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs.
On the island - pleasure, practice of spiritual virtues & living according to nature are all held in the highest regard. There are several religions on the island: moon-worshippers, sun-worshippers, planet-worshippers, ancestor-worshippers and monotheists, each is tolerant of the others.
However, More's Utopia popularised the idea of imagining parallel realities. Every utopia contains a dystopia, an illusion where nothing is perfect.
Different types of Utopia?
More's book, in some ways a work of early science fiction, gave rise to a whole new genre of writing. Judging from that literature, there are really two kinds of utopia. There are carnivalesque societies in which, instead of working, everyone will drink, feast and copulate from dawn to dusk.
There are also more austere utopias, in which everything is odourless and antiseptic, intolerably streamlined and sensible.
The challenge
If you have a quip/idea/drawing/joke/blockbuster/advert/song that you would like to contribute as part of the 'Brutopia' exhibition, then....
- You don't have to be an artist.
- You don't have to be a philosopher.
- You just have to have an idea of Brutopia.
Invitation
You don’t have to be an artist. You don’t have to be a philosopher. You don’t even need a finished idea of Brutopia. You just need a spark — a curiosity to explore a parallel reality with us.
Bring a quip, idea, drawing, joke, blockbuster, advert, song — or a format we haven’t met yet.
Specs / Formats
- Images: PNG/JPG (up to 5MB)
- Short video: MP4/MOV (≤ 60s)
- Text: up to 400 words
- Audio: MP3/WAV (≤ 3 min)
These are guidelines, not laws. Surprise us.
Contribute to Brutopia
Send a link, upload, or a rough sketch. We’ll be in touch.
Email: submit@brutopia.uk