London in 2019 is super into crystals, moon ceremonies, sharing circles and spells. It’s light-hearted stuff and incredibly removed from the macabre history of witchcraft, specifically the witch persecutions that took place across East Anglia during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. That’s the subject of ‘A Coven A Grove A Stand’, an exhibition from London-based artist Susan Pui San Lok at Colchester’s Firstsite.
Reacting to intriguing locations across the east of England, the project uses sculpture, sound and moving images to explore themes of folklore and magic, remembrance and resistance, fear and violence. Her work centres on the hundreds of women, often unmarried or elderly, who were imprisoned in Colchester Castle and executed as witches, including those hunted down by self-appointed Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, who is buried nearby.
Their names appear in the exhibition for visitors to see, hear and write down, to recognise the power of collective remembrance and resistance.
‘A Coven A Grove A Stand’ is at Firstsite, Colchester, Essex, until April 22. Free entry.
What a difference a year makes. When I was first invited to Paultons Park and Peppa Pig World, Minnie had barely heard of Peppa and George and wouldn’t have known what a family theme park was if I’d sat down…
Come visit some of our favorite places in Amsterdam!
Café de Blaffende Vis, Café in Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
“We welcome locals, artists, students – everyone! People come for the beer and the borrelhapjes (an after-work snack with drinks) but they often end up staying for dinner…”
– TheBlaffende Vis Crew
This historic “brown café” in the heart of the Jordaan has been going strong since 1988. It’s especially famous on “King’s Day” (the Dutch king’s birthday) when they erect huge billboards outside as a wink to the Royal Family. Come eat and drink like royalty!
When you think of weekend breaks with younger kids, Glasgow with toddlers probably isn’t the first destination to spring to mind. Which is, frankly, ridiculous. As one of the UK’s largest cities, it’s got a sizeable population under three, and as…
There’s a tiny, inconspicuous, cafe-come-magazine-shop in the back streets of hotel-filled Paddington that is definitely worth a visit. It is owned by Monocle, who not only have a very interesting magazine covering international affairs, business, culture and design along with many travel and lifestyle guides.
The cafe feels fresh and almost Scandinavian in design, with a small bench at the front of the shop for customers to have a cup of delicious Allpress coffee and a freshly made Fabrique cinnamon bun whilst burying their nose in whatever they choose to read.
The café sells a vast selection of interesting magazines and the staff on hand are always happy to help with suggestions if you’re not too sure what you’re after, they cover a broad spectrum of subjects from Fashion to food via slow journalism and the the art world. If it’s not a magazine that you’re after and you’re traveling from abroad they have a print-on-demand newspaper selection means that you can choose from over 2500 newspaper titles and have them printed for you right there and then. It’s an amazing concept and at only £ 3 a copy you can print anything from The Zimbabwe Independent to The Cairns Post within a matter of minutes.
The shop also sells carefully selected travel essentials such as toiletries and Swiss undies for the ultimate classy one-stop-shop feel.
