The Shaved Witches Rave or TSWR is a research project that took many different forms and manifestations. It explores the history of the persecutions of witches in 16th & 17th century Europe alongside contemporary rave culture. It is a site specific performance and sound piece that took place in carparks, festivals, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and galleries. The project ran from 2016 until 2018.
“Witch hunting was also instrumental to the construction of the new patriarchal order where women bodies, their labour, their sexual and reproductive powers were placed under the control of the state and transformed into economic resources.” Silvia Federici
Hair and lots of it is what weaves this text together; not gathered neatly in a bow but tangled and unruly. Wavy locks carry the text on uneven paths through time, from the European Witch Hunts of the Middle ages all the way through to the present. Long tendrils of hair spill over the pages, collecting stories and memories that explore the socio-political exploitation of the female mind and body. These stories reveal how the lines drawn between the public and private spheres have become slippery within the tentacles of capitalism. Spaces of intimacy have now become tiny islands in a sea of labour, making the personal all the more political. My stories and the stories of the Witches become entangled through writing that oscillates between poetic abstraction and historical contextualisation. The stories of the witches are intertwined in the coils of capitalism; their persecution contributed to capitalism taking root. The witches can be seen as the first wave feminists who were forgotten, their histories shaved off like their hair. Their stories show us how there have always been rebellious women who refuse to conform, and how imperative it is to continue to keep their legacy alive.
TSWR vol. 7 (The Shaved Witches Rave), The New Dark room, Curated by The RCA Queer Society, The Dyson Gallery, Royal College of Art, London, 2017
TSWR vol. 6 (The Shaved Witches Rave), Il break your heart and you’ll break mine, curated by Sasha Galitzine, Vout-o reenees, London, 2017
TSWR vol. 5 (The Shaved Witches Rave), Mimosa House, curated by Daria Khan, London, 2017
The Shaved Witches Rave vol. 4, Hot Retaliations (and other acts of revenge), Clearview Ldt, London, 2017
The Shaved Witches Rave vol. 3, CAMPerVAN Presents: The Sci-FI Powerverse, Artlicks Weekend, London, 2017
The Shaved Witches Rave vol. 2, Robyn Beech Selected Works, 1979-1987, curated by Vittoria Bonifati, Princes Gate Mews, London, 2017
The Shaved Witches Rave vol. 1, curated by Leanne Elliot-Young for Commune East, Hoi Polloi, London, 2017