Earth Spells - Witches of the Anthropocene Film - RAMM 2023

Through the work of eight contemporary artists, this specially curated new exhibition for RAMM explores otherworldly connections to nature. Earth Spells: Witches of the Anthropocene responds to RAMM’s collections, specifically the Dartmoor Cauldron, once owned by the self-identified ‘Witch of Dartmoor’ Elizabeth Webb. The ‘Anthropocene’ is a proposed definition of geological time that describes the period from 1945 to now, where human activity has had significant impact on the planet’s ecosystems.
Earth Spells invites the viewer to consider if the artists and the artworks could be perceived as suspicious and challenging, radiating ‘witchiness’.
Artists Emma Hart, Grace Ndiritu, Florence Peake and Lucy Stein have been commissioned to create new work in response to RAMM’s collections. In this film, Stein, Peake and Ndiritu explore their responses to the word witch.
Other works on display include a Jacquard tapestry and drawings by Kiki Smith; a hand-tufted rug by Caroline Achaintre; Mercedes Mühleisen’s video installation Lament of Fruitless HEN; and the sculpture Baubo Dance by Kris Lemsalu.
Earth Spells runs 11 February 2023 - 7 May 2023 and is co-curated by Lara Goodband, Contemporary Art Curator and Programmer at RAMM, and independent curator Gemma Lloyd.
Artists: Caroline Achaintre, Emma Hart, Kris Lemsalu, Mercedes Mühleisen, Grace Ndiritu, Florence Peake, Kiki Smith, and Lucy Stein
Video: Josh Pratt