Posted October 5, 2023 by Amy Kingsmill
Festival of the Accused at British Library
Join Artist Amy Kingsmill as we explore reinventing and reclaiming the witch with Kirsty Logan, Juno Dawson, Malcolm Gaskill, Shahidha Bari, Marion Gibson, John Callow, Shami Chakrabarti, Marisa Carnesky, Ron Athey, Zoë Howe, the Witches of Scotland, Jenny Runacre, Parma Ham and more.
Photography – Rod Doyle
Full schedule and ticket info here.
The witch has long been a source of fear and revulsion but has become a symbol of feminine power, sexual liberty, indigenous knowledge and political rebellion.
The Festival of the Accused delves into the history of witchcraft and summons a host of writers and performers who praise and explore the witch. It tells the true stories of those accused in the English Witch Trials, a violent reckoning that gripped the country for hundreds of years and affected thousands.
It also celebrates modern devotees of the craft, in all their strangeness and subtlety. From the authors of ‘WitchLit’ telling tales of powerful covens, to queer performance artists who draw inspiration from the occult.
Light Source- Performance by Amy Kingsmill. Photo by Darren Black.
The festival concludes with a spectacular twilight performance by artist Amy Kingsmill and a memorial reading by actor Jenny Runacre in the Library’s open-air amphitheatre, the Poets Circle.
“I was born in Essex, deep in witch-hunter county and grew up learning about English history and its injustices. As a woman, I make work that addresses feminine trauma from a female viewpoint. This is a vital act. I don’t claim that I can heal thousands of long dead but hope that Light Source can give something back to these accused people; mothers, daughters, grandmothers, fathers, parents and siblings. This performance seeks to return their humanity and raise the importance of a national memorial for those unjustly persecuted.” – Amy Kingsmill
I hope you can join us November 4th, for this monumental memorial day of discussions, reclamation and reckoning.