13 portraits of people acting as pioneers on controversial social issues. Printed with phosphorus ink.
"Anne Wizorek" @ Open Walls Galerie, Berlin 2013, Video-Still: Boris Niehaus / 1just.de
#WitchHuntParis – Anohni, Paris 2014
#WitchHuntBerlin – "Nadezhda Tolokonnikova", Berlin
"Lana Wachowski" @ 30works Galerie, Köln 2014
Various & Gould: #WitchHuntBerlin, Berlin 2013
#WitchHuntBerlin – "Edward Snowden", Berlin 2013, Photo: Boris Niehaus / 1just.de
This series is focused on 13 portraits of people acting as pioneers on controversial social issues. That these people might have been persecuted and burned as witches in earlier times is mere speculation, but the fact that they still have to fight for their ideas, freedom or even their lives, is the sad truth.
Various & Gould have used a phosphorus ink for printing. The viewers are invited to interact – as if by witchcraft – you can ignite a match on these portraits . Every touch leaves a mark.
Various & Gould have shown the portraits in exhibitions and also installed them several times as an interactive #WitchHunt in public space (2013/2014). This ‘witch hunt’ can be understood as an interactive scavenger hunt. As passers-by go in search of the posters, which are provided with QR codes and (audio) texts, they can learn more about the people portrayed and light a candle for them.
The people chosen in 2013 for this portrait series are: Marina Abramovic, Anohni, Mae Azango, Ameneh Bahrami, Le1f, Yoko Ono, Nawal El Saadawi, Edward Snowden, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Anne Wizorek, Lana Wachowski und Malala Yousafzai.
“Various & Gould’s Wanted Witches – Witches Wanted is an important shift and reframing of the witch narrative. What was once a tool of oppression and violence is transformed into something empowering and inspiring. It shows the many ways of how you can become an activist […]
Wanted Witches – Witches Wanted asks you to interact and reflect on your part in our societal system of interwoven forms of oppression.”
Anne Wizorek, publicist and feminist activist, quote from the book: Various & Gould – Permanently Improvised, 2019
“A riveting interactive witch hunt, complete with matches, candles, smart phones and QR codes, has just begun on the streets of Berlin – the creation of conceptual Street Artists Various & Gould. Better yet, you know many of the 13 ‘witches’, as they are people from modern times who have suffered fates of being accused and depicted as evil.”
Jaime Rojo & Steven P. Harrington, Brooklyn Street Art, 2023