APRIL 30TH - MAY 6TH 2023


IN GRAZ, AUSTRIA

WHERE DO WE COME FROM
AND WHERE ARE WE GOING

WHERE DO WE COME FROM
AND WHAT DO WE SEEK

WHAT CHOICES WOULD YOU MAKE
NOW AND FOREVER

WE ARE CURIOUS OF WHAT WE CAN KNOW, AND ALSO WHAT WE CANNOT KNOW

WE EMBRACE MYSTERY WITH A DESIRE TO EXPLORE AND CREATE

WE ARE NOT LOOKING TO RETURN TO THE PAST
WE ARE LOOKING TO REEVALUATE THE PAST
FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF PEOPLE LIVING TODAY
FACING WHAT WE ARE FACING

WE RECOGNISE THE CURRENT CRISIS AS ALSO (AND PERHAPS FUNDAMENTALLY) A SPIRITUAL ONE

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU ARE HIDING? WHY?
WHO ARE YOU HIDING IT FROM

WE UNDERSTAND THAT UNMET NEEDS DRIVE BEHAVIOURS

WE WISH TO LOOK AT OURSELVES WITH CURIOSITY, NOT AS ONLY NEUTRAL OR BLANK, BUT ALSO AS COMPOSITIONS OF PAST HISTORIES AND EXPERIENCES

BOTH PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE

WHAT ARE OUR BORDERS
AND WHO DO WE ALLOW TO DRAW
OUR BORDERS?

OUR DESIRE TO LEARN ABOUT FOLK TRADITIONS DOES NOT HAVE A CONSERVATIVE AGENDA

RATHER, WE PREDICT THE UNDERSTANDING OF OURSELVES AND OUR PASTS AS POTENTIALLY LEADING TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF CONTEMPORARY POLARISATION

WHAT IS GROWTH?
WHAT ARE WE GROWING?
WHO ARE WE EXPLOITING?
WHAT ARE WE PRODUCING?

WE REJECT COMMERCIAL NEO-PAGANISM AND NEW AGE DENIAL OF REAL SITUATIONS

WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR A SUPERSTITIOUS OUTLOOK ON THE SUBJECT OF THE WITCH

WE ARE INTERESTED IN THE WITCH WITH ALL ITS DIFFERENT MEANINGS

WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE WITCH WENT FROM BEING A COMMUNITY HEALER, MIDWIFE AND ORACLE

TO BECOMING DESPISED, DEVILISH, PERSECUTED, BURNT AT THE STAKE, EVIL OLD HAG IN CHILDREN'S BOOKS, AND TODAY OFTEN A MERE JOKE

WHAT WAS THE CAUSE OF THIS SOCIETAL CHANGE, AND HOW DID IT COME TO SHAPE OUR WORLD?

WE LOOK AT THE WITCH AS A PATHWAY TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING WESTERN MODERNITY

WE BELIEVE THAT THE WITCH IS MORE THAN WOMAN, MORE THAN IDENTITY, MORE THAN BODY

THE WITCH SPEAKS TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SHADOW SIDE OF PATRIARCHY

PATRIARCHY VALUES LINEARITY, RATIONALITY, SCIENTIFIC PROOF, WAKING REALITY, DOGMA

IN ORDER TO MOVE FORWARD, WE WISH TO HARNESS CYCLICALITY, EMOTIONS CREATIVITY, DREAMS, ART

WE ASK YOU WHAT MAGIC MEANS TO YOU

WE ASK YOU WHAT THE WITCH MEANS TO YOU

WE ALSO ASK YOU TO CONTEMPLATE THE TRIXTER, THE OUTSIDER, THE ARTIST IN RELATION TO SOCIETY AND CHANGE

AS PEOPLE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED TRANSFORMATION PERSONALLY, WE KNOW THAT THIS IS ALSO POSSIBLE COLLECTIVELY

WE SEEK A WAY TO RESPOND TO THE CURRENT ERA AND ITS CRISIS THROUGH ART, EXCHANGE AND LOVE

WE UNDERSTAND THAT WE HAVE LIVED OUR LIVES WITHIN A CERTAIN SYSTEM WITH CERTAIN VALUES AND IDEAS OF WHAT IS TRUE AND FALSE

WE THUS UNDERSTAND HOW OUR GAZES ARE NOT NEUTRAL, AND WILL NEVER BE NEUTRAL

THERE IS NO NEUTRAL

YET WE VIEW INTELLIGENCE AND COMPASSION AS AN EXPRESSION OF PLURALITY AND FLUIDITY

YET WE ARE PEOPLE IN THE LINEAGE OF MANY PEOPLES WHO QUESTION WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN TAUGHT AS TRUE

WE DESIRE TO LEARN DIFFERENT WAYS OF SEEING AND BEING, SINCE ONLY THROUGH DIFFERENCE DO WE OBTAIN REFLECTION OF OURSELVES

DIFFERENCE IS AN INVITATION TO UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

WE REJECT THE "ONE WORLD-WORLD" AND WISH TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE ARE MANY WORLDS IN THIS WORLD

THIS ALSO INCLUDES THE OTHER-THAN-HUMAN WORLD

WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR ANSWERS

WE ARE LOOKING FOR QUESTIONS

AFTER EVERY ANSWER, A NEW QUESTION ARISES

WHAT ARE WE LONGING FOR?
WHO BELONGS TO US?

TRUTH IS AN ONGOING PROCESS

TRUTH IS ALSO A FEELING

LOVE IS NOT TO BE TOGETHER, IT IS TO BECOME TOGETHER

LOVE IS AN ACTION
LOVE IS A CHOICE

WE HIGHLIGHT RELATIONALITY WITHOUT ELIMINATING INDIVIDUALITY

WE DESIRE CONVERSATIONS BEYOND BINARY REFERENCING

WE ARE NOT HERE 
TO BEAR YOUR CHILDREN
WE ARE CREATED
TO CREATE 

MY WEALTH WILL NOT
BE DEFINED BY YOU

WE CELEBRATE THE WORD "AND", WHILE WE ARE CAUTIOUS OF WORDS SUCH AS "BUT" OR "EITHER"

WHAT IS OUR ROLE?
WHO AND WHAT DO WE CHOOSE TO SURROUND OURSELVES WITH?

WE REIMAGINE THE CARTESIAN
"I THINK, THEREFORE I AM" AS
"I AM IN RELATION, THEREFORE I AM"

WE RECOGNISE HOW HISTORY IS WRITTEN BY THE WINNERS, BY THE SOCIAL ELITE, BY THE COLONISERS

WHO IS 'THE OTHER'?
WHO DEFINES 'THE OTHER'?
WHAT IS THEIR STORY?

WE RECOGNISE HOW MARGINALISATION AND HEGEMONIC NARRATIVES RESULT IN INTENTIONAL ERASURE / UNINTENTIONAL FORGETFULNESS OF ALL OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED AS "OTHER"

WHILE WE CANNOT EVER KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HAS BEEN KNOWN, WE CAN BEGIN TO EXCHANGE STORIES THAT MAY NOT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN HEARD IN OUR EDUCATION, OUR MEDIA, OUR POLITICS

THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF SHARING SOME OF THESE STORIES

THIS IS MERELY THE BEGINNING OF CAFÉ WITCH

WE WILL SHARE OURSELVES THIS WEEK YET WE RECOGNISE THAT THERE ARE MANY - PERHAPS COUNTLESS - MORE STORIES, THAT ALL DESERVE TO BE HEARD

WE BELIEVE THAT WITH CARE, CURIOSITY AND RESPECT WE CAN EXCHANGE AND LEARN FROM EACH OTHER

IT IS OK TO CHANGE ONE'S MIND

WE RECOGNISE HOW WE ARE NOT FIXED

WE INVITE YOU TO LISTEN

WE WELCOME PARTICIPATION

WE WELCOME BOLD IMAGINATION

WE WELCOME YOU WITH ALL OUR HEARTS

credits:

written by Vida Vojić &
Hanna Magdalena Gödl

drawing inspiration from / borrowing content from Silvia Federici, Mona Chollet, Leah Garza, Amanda Yates Garcia + many more