Soma Kazsimér & Márton K. Takács, Ginevra Petrozzi, Lucia Sekerková, Zsuzsi Simon, Noémi Szécsi

Maleficae

The various crises of recent years have made a lot of people more open to spirituality anew, with alternative faiths and cultures offering an increasing number of people an escape from reality or a way to cope with the events that transpire around them. Spiritual practices are widespread among Generation Y and Z, from tarot reading through the healing powers of crystals and plants to astrology. This heightened interest motivated us, curators as well, to research deeper the topic and start to work on the exhibition titled Maleficae.

We realized that anyone researching the historical past of these typically women’s practices is bound to come across the figure of the witch. Seen from today’s perspective (beyond the broom-and-witch-hat character of pop culture), the witch is seen as a representative of non-canonical forms of knowledge, of non-institutional practices of healing, and as a pioneer of feminism who refused conform to the social norms of her time and often provided support to her fellow women. In the exhibition, our aim was to highlight these different understandings and artistic representations of the figure of the witch.

In the first iteration of the exhibition which was shown in Budapest Gallery (2024) our starting point were the witch hunts and witch trials that took place between the 15th and 18th centuries. The first section of the exhibition presented works which dealt with these historical events and had a special emphasis on the healing practices performed by women accused of witchcraft.

For the exhibition in Šopa Gallery – a long time partner also in Budapest Gallery’s artist exchange program –, we are presenting the second chapter of the previous exhibition, with works examining the figure of the witch from a contemporary perspective, highlighting in many cases various communities and the notion of ‘sisterhood’, either in the biological context of the family or in the chosen one. The works range from the introduction of contemporary witches, through present-day occult practices and commemorations to the spiritual world of segregated social groups. Finally, the circle is closed by magic pervading the online space and the interconnection of magic and technology.

Flóra Gadó, Júlia Hermann, Dalma Eszter Kollár

Zsuzsi Simon: And yet we still keep on living…, 2024

Zsuzsi Simon’s photo- and video-based work is centred on the human body as well as the examination of body-related taboos, stereotypes and stigmas, mainly through the filter of feminism. And yet we still keep on living…, her work made for the exhibition Maleficae at Budapest Gallery, also features active, independent female characters who influence the course of events and all of whom try to challenge a deep-rooted stereotype of women in society in the photo series capturing performances. Simon herself and her family members – her mother and grandmother – are the women participating in the photo-performances. In the three-channel video, which is closely linked to the photos but can also be interpreted separately, they talk about their (transgenerational) traumas as women while we see them perform ritual-performances together. The leitmotif spanning through the installation, the broom is a popular stereotype associated with witches, and by representing it as various types of ritual tool, Simon aims to give this cliché new meaning, reinforced by a series of ritualised movements. As an object used for cleaning, the broom is endowed with much greater, ritual significance in certain cultures, and thus also appears in Simon’s work as a symbol of purification and liberation. Through their own bodies and their honesty, the three women of different generations tell the story of women’s commitment to a common destiny and family cohesion, as well as unleashing their own voices.

Márton K. Takács & Soma Kazsimér: Witch Memorial, 2024

Márton K. Takács and Soma Kazsimér’s long-term project is a quest in search of the mythical creatures and legendary figures of Hungary (werewolves, vampires, woodwoses), in other words, the ‘cryptids’ of the region. Besides the investigation of beliefs, an important part of their expeditions is to ‘deceive’ and influence and shape the media through various fake news. Now they are taking a different perspective and looking at those who are excluded from collective memory, at the anti-heroes who are not memorialised, and trying to find ways this can be remedied today. To commemorating the witches of Igric burnt in 1717 on Búza Square in Miskolc (formerly known as the Burning Pitch), they have placed a memorial at the site in the form of a guerrilla plaque. In the installation made for the exhibition, the process of creating and installing the plaque is presented in a road movie. We can follow the action of the artists who, as in their previous works, consider the gesture of both commemoration and visibility important, while making sure their actions circumvent the law, testing how long the plaque will remain in place and how it will be received.

Ginevra Petrozzi: To Be a Witch in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 2023

Carried out in the scope of a complex installation, Ginevra Petrozzi’s performance is shown as a video documentary in the exhibition. It simultaneously addresses the need for spirituality in our time, for a predetermined, certain vision of the future that can be read from the cards, as well as the phenomenon of surveillance capitalism, which has an invisible influence on what information reaches us. The artist performs a ritual similar to a tarot reading, but instead of cards, she looks into our smartphone, which stores all our personal data. Therefore, in the course of her performance, Petrozzi does not leave her predictions and findings to fortune or chance, as the search engines of the various online platforms, hand in hand with artificial intelligence, accurately collect our behavioural data and monitor our interests to target us accordingly with advertisements and content that the algorithms deem relevant for us.

In the performance, the artist poses as a digital witch who draws our attention to the technological aspects of the capitalist system as well as the vulnerability of our existence in the online space.

Lucia Sekerková: Vrăjitoare [Witches], 2013-2017

For more than four years, Slovak photographer Lucia Sekerková, collaborating with ethnographer Ivana Šusterová, has been researching and documenting the strictly Christian belief system of the Vlax Roma community in Romania, along with their magical traditions, which they regard as inseparable from their faith. While ‘quackery’ has been restricted or banned in Romania to varying degrees by the different political regimes of the past decades, in recent years, mainly owing to the internet, more and more Vlax Roma women have started practising witchcraft, with increasing financial success. Originally a migratory ethnic group, the Vlax Roma have always lived in poverty and amidst precarious conditions, and palmistry and tarot reading have typically been the privilege and source of income for older women. As opposed to this tradition, nowadays girls start to learn magic from their mothers as early as primary school age, and by the time they are adolescents, their God-given talents have manifested, with a focus on which they then start their own praxis. Social media and other online platforms provide more than just a means of advertising: thousands of people follow the live rituals, and contact with clients seeking help from the witches often starts with an exchange of messages online.

Szécsi Noémi: It Cannot Rain Forever, 2021-2024

Noémi Szécsi’s series, which was also the artist’s diploma project, explores contemporary witch communities in Hungary (and subsequently abroad). Using the strategy of ‘participant observation’ known from anthropology, she took part in gatherings and rituals of women who professed to be witches. These practices are also intertwined with neopaganism and Wicca traditions, giving rise to an eclectic belief system. To use the artist’s phrase, she worked with them as an “accepted outsider”, which allowed her to authentically yet sensitively portray women who had often found support in witchcraft after experiencing some sort of disappointment or trauma. Szécsi’s photographs portray her subjects as strong and independent women, breaking down centuries-old prejudices and stereotypical portrayals associated with witchcraft, and although she presents them alone, a sense of belonging to a community of women shines through the works. The photo series is interestingly complemented with other genres, such as still life and landscape, which frame and contextualise the portraits while showing glimpses of a particular rite, community event, religious object or important site based on the subjects’ accounts.

The program of the gallery is supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council. The Slovak Arts Council is the main partner of the project. The project was also supported by the City of Košice and the Košice Self-Governing Region.

The exhibition is a new installment of the show Maleficae – From Bonfirest to Online Witchcraft realized in the Budapest Gallery in 2024.