Switches, Conduits & Veils

Switches, Conduits & Veils: Manon Hedenborg White, Pádraic E. Moore and Margaret Haines in conversation

Friday March 25 from 5 till 7 pm.

Through discussing theological tangents and implications of Margaret Haines’ film On Air: Purity, Corruption & Pollution, Episode 1: Ashes (2022) currently on view at Rozenstraat in Amsterdam, the conversation will address constructions of femininites in Western Esotericism, channeling as a creative methodological model for artworks and texts, introductions to witchcraft, and explorations of practical & ‘tactical’ magic within the works of poet and mythologist Ella Young, artist Marjorie Cameron, scientist Jack Parsons and occultists Aleister Crowley, Kenneth Grant and Gerald Gardner.

Manon Hedenborg White, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at Malmö University. She is the author of The Eloquent Blood: The Goddess Babalon and the Construction of Femininities in Western Esotericism (Oxford University Press 2020). One of the first academic monographs to analyze Western esotericism from the perspective of feminist and queer theory, the book analyzes interpretations of the goddess Babalon – a central deity in the British occultist Aleister Crowley’s religion Thelema – from the fin-de-siècle until today. Her research focuses on Western esotericism, new religious movements, and alternative spirituality, with a particular focus on issues of gender, sexuality, and authority. 

Pádraic E. Moore is a writer, curator and art historian. Moore’s curatorial methodology is meticulous but subjective and is informed by an acute awareness of the artist’s individual position. Recent research has focused upon the influence that esoteric philosophies have had upon the literary and visual arts. Several projects have explored how organisations such as the Theosophical Society offered a vital catalyst for change in late 19th and early 20th century art. Moore’s projects often examine how contemporary culture has embraced aesthetics and ideals informed by such esoteric traditions. Chronicling the work of artists who refer to or follow these traditions is also an integral aspect of his practice.