(collective performance + video recording with HD, 16:9, colour, sound, 10' 57'')
There is the old Walpurgis tradition of lighting big fires (majbrasor – bonfires) for protection and to scare off evil forces, in particular witches, in Sweden (and in other Nordic countries) on the night of 30 April and the day of 1 May. According to the Christian perspective, it celebrates Saint Walpurgis, but there is also present an older pagan tradition that celebrates the end of cold, short and dark days, and the beginning of a warmer weather with longer and clearer days.
When I participated in AiRS (a residency for international artists in Skövde, in Sweden, that is focused on socially engaged art), I decided to create a symbolic counterpower representation to deal with collective archetypes within traditional Walpurgis bonfires, having in consideration that Valborgsmässoafton' songs to scary away witches and darkness are usually performed in a big public event by male choir voices.
I did more than 500 flyers that I distributed in Skövde, inviting women for several open meetings that happened in Hertig Johans Torg, the central square of the town, from 25/04/2018 to 29/04/2018.
In those 5 open meetings, in order to create a participatory performance in the Walpurgis evening, some initial inputs were given:
Why the Valborgsmässoafton' songs in the Boulognerskogen are only performed by male choirs?
Why keep reproducing the symbolic power of male choir voices (as a superior force of dominant order) to keep apart witches (a symbolic representation of feminine dark side)?
Is the legacy present in this tradition deficient on not including enough the participation of women? And when the feminine it's symbolically present, why does it highlight the dicotomy between an idealized purified figure (Saint Walpurga) and a dangerous feminine dark side (the evil witches that need to be warded off through fire and male vocal interpretations)?
Are such interpretations of a tradition an exaggeration reflecting a political and social hysteria according contemporary issues or a positive effort to make aware symbolic old structures that unconsciously reproduce and feed a dominant male mindset?
How do you connect this kind of traditions with the actual context where feminist movements are reacting against gender inequality, disrespect and sexual abuse (e.g. the #metoo movement or the sexual scandal related with the Swedish Academy, responsible for Nobel Prizes)?
After that process, a group of women did this performance created together:
I recorded the performance and edited a video (adding also images of migrant birds arriving in April/May to the area, what have became an event very appreciated by tourists).
The video was exhibited, not in a conventional art institution, but on the local newspaper website, usually read by the population of the town. As a memory and a footage archive of that witches' revolt, it is permanently available online (link: https://www.skovdenyheter.se/artikel/tv-se-konstnarens-feministiska-performance).