Fabula in Theory: Darian Leader

Festival Fabula, in collaboration with the academic publisher Analecta and Cankarjev dom, welcomes renowned psychoanalyst and cultural thinker Darian Leader, presenting his book Stealing the Mona Lisa: What Art Stops Us from Seeing.

When Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911, countless people flocked to see the empty space where it had once been on display. From this paradox, Leader begins by asking if "the story of the 'Mona Lisa's' disappearance can tell us something about art and why we look at it." He is fascinated by the fact that the painting's absence drew crowds, and asks, "might this give us a clue as to why we look at visual art? Are we looking for something that we have lost?"

Taking this story as his starting point, Darian Leader explores the psychology of looking at paintings and sculpture. He combines anecdote, observation, and analysis with examples taken from classical and contemporary art. He uses the insights of Freud and primarily Lacan to offer a range of amusing but often striking accounts of why we look at art, the importance of the gaze and the look.

Leader is the author of numerous influential books on psychoanalysis, culture, and social critique, translated into multiple languages. He received the Mercier Chair at the University of Louvain, was President of the College of Psychoanalysts, a Trustee of the Freud Museum, and Honorary Visiting Professor in Psychoanalysis at Roehampton. Known for his clear, essayistic style, he makes complex theoretical ideas accessible without sacrificing intellectual rigour.

The discussion will be hosted by Mladen Dolar and Alenka Zupančič, the event will be conducted in English with simultaneous translation into Slovenian.

Join for an evening exploring the interplay of the visible and invisible, the gaze that shapes our experience of art, and how art reveals both the world and the limits of our perception.