Georgia Horgan

As part of an extended research project into the relationship between the growth of industry in Scotland and patterns of witch-hunting, during her Creative Lab residency Georgia will consider how women’s history is communicated within museological contexts, particularly in institutions or public spaces local to witch-scares.

The central text for this project has been Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici. Usually dismissed as superstitious peasant hysteria, Federici reframes the European witch-hunt as a nuanced political maneuver. In Federici’s thesis, the witch-hunt had complex causes and outcomes, the most important being the subjugation of women and enforced reproductive labour.

Scotland can be understood as a compelling model for her ideas. During the period from 1560 to 1720, Scotland experienced rapid industrial development, particularly in the textile industry, under the strict supervision of a new Calvinist Kirk. Quite counter-intuitively, statistics compiled about the witch-hunt illustrate that witch hunting was far more intense in the industrializing central belt that in the rural Highlands.

How these histories are communicated and disseminated often reflects enduring political attitudes, with the motivations and techniques of museum display reflecting these normalised narratives. During the residency Georgia will examine how interventions into these traditions can produce alternative accounts of local history.

Georgia is an artist based in Glasgow. Using writing, film, sculptural and curatorial practices, she researches history, politics and objects from a feminist perspective. Recent projects include Machine Room, a solo exhibition at Collective as part of Satellites Programme, Early Modern Admin., a solo exhibition at WASPS Studios in Dundee, and an upcoming event at the Northern Charter in Newcastle.