Event
Book Launch, 'Of Shadows: One Hundred Objects from the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic'
01 Nov 2016
Lo & Behold
London, United Kingdom
-
Ritual Magic Skull: Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
Exhibition
Of Shadows
27 Oct 2016 – 2 Nov 2016
Event times
Mon-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat-Sun 12noon-6pm
Cost of entry
free
Address
- 2b Swanfield street
- Just off Redchurch St and Brick Lane
- London
- E2 7DS
- United Kingdom
Travel Information
- 149, 35, 242, 67, 8
- Liverpool Street, Shoreditch High Street
- Bethnal Green Rail, Hoxton
Event map
Inspired by her residency at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, Sara Hannant considers the relationship between photographic practices and magical belief. She presents the essence of selected artefacts, all used in the practice of witchcraft and magic.
About
Some of the objects including wax dolls, wands, statues, daggers, pendants, robes and amulets, have been displayed at the museum for years, others have long been hidden in its archives.
In witchcraft, magic is practiced to bring about change and sometimes objects are made or charged with magical intent for this purpose. Similarly, the photographic process can transform objects, images, and ideas that contribute to its meaning.
Her photographs and projections, shown alongside museum artefacts, explore the magical properties of the photographic process and engage the viewers’ imagination in the act of transformation.
She explains: “It was best to photograph at night. This enabled the objects to emerge from the darkness, where it is said magic begins. Reflecting on this process, I found parallels with photographic practice. Superstition and magic have encircled photography from the beginning. In many cultures, the word for photography/photographer translates as ‘soul taker,' ‘shadow catcher,' or ‘face stealer'. The camera itself was perceived as a magical object, and photographs were thought to possess supernatural powers."
”Sara’s pictures are rites of evocation... a radically new and exciting approach to the work of representing the past to the present.” the leading historian of British witchcraft and magic, Professor Ronald Hutton, University of Bristol.
The exhibition coincides with the publication of the book Of Shadows: One Hundred Objects from the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, by Sara Hannant and Simon Costin, published by Strange Attractor Press, Hallowe’en, 2016.
Sara Hannant is a photographer whose work over the last ten years has explored magical belief, seasonal cycles, and folklore. In 2011, the Horniman Museum launched her touring exhibition Mummers, Maypoles and Milkmaids: A Journey through the English Ritual Year, which has inspired productions by both Laban Trinity Dance and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her book of the same title received the runner-up Katharine Briggs Folklore Award in 2012.
