Foraging Spells
Do crows gossip about us when we walk by? Can a city dweller shapeshift? What’s the difference between a prayer and a spell, or between herbal medicine and a little blood magic?
For a while we have been wanting to add a witch to the lineup of the Aromathèque evenings. We searched in dark forests, on mountain slopes, and through swamps, but to our surprise this one was right under our nose — brewing spells between concrete and canal water in Amsterdam.
Tickets
Lynn Shore is a city witch that will teach us how spells work. How we can make our own spells within city limits. We will learn how to use them, for instance to ask permission to cut a leaf of a desired plant. And how to appease plants by making an offering using your own body fluids.
Expect talk of shapeshifting, bloodmagic, foraging urban weeds, and the blurred line between herbal medicine and witchcraft. Bring curiosity, a bit of scepticism, and maybe a leaf you’d like to apologise to.
Her book The Green City Witch will be for sale afterwards – a handbook for anyone ready to get their hands dirty or practice on their house plants.
About Aromathéque
Every month olfactory artist Frank Bloem curates a program where experts, artists, designers and scientists shift our perspectives on what we eat, drink, touch, inhale, secrete and smell. These so called "lower senses" are not only placed lower in our body but also were considered through history as lesser, more banal and not sophisticated. We think differently. Starting from a simple theme with a thought provoking question, we go on a journey and inviting people from different disciplines to discover the world that lies behind everyday phenomena.
Frank Bloem
Frank Bloem is an artist who uses scent as his primary medium. He started his lab The Snifferoo in 2016 and creates scent art projects. From elephant scents for Artis Zoo to erotic pine scents for festival Into the great wide Open. He works with artist and museums and has a long term collaboration with The Embassy of the North Sea for who he made art projects and a perfume. For Mediamatic Frank has been active since 2017. From Collaborating on Odorama evenings with Caro Verbeek to giving scent and distillation workshops. Since 2019 he is the manager of the Aroma Lab that he set up together with Niklaus Metler.
Presentation about different body smells and smell samples from the elephant intimate body parts. -
With: Frank BloemLynn Shore
Lynn Shore is a medical herbalist, educator, and green witch. Born in Bristol, study, and work led her to several UK towns and cities. In 2005 she settled in Amsterdam and founded Urban Herbology which connects city people with the living knowledge of plants through education and community growing. She also runs a community herb orchard, where locals, plants, and wildlife grow together. Lynn and her family live in a plant and book-filled apartment. Most often out gardening, foraging, or concocting strange brews; helping others find peace in nature is her mission.
Her practice weaves together science, folklore, and ritual, celebrating the intelligence of plants and the ways they shape our well-being. With a background in herbal medicine, permaculture, and therapeutic horticulture, Lynn’s work bridges medicinal knowledge and witchcraft with everyday urban life.
Lynn Shore wildcrafting - Photo by Dana Marin
Information
Thursday 13th of November
19:30 - 21:00
Ticket: €12,50
Student, kunstenaar, Stadspas: €8,50
