Magical Resistance in the Suburbs: Witchcraft in an Age of Rapid Urban Transformation

Abstract

At a time of rapid transformation in many parts of Sydney, my practice-based research investigated how magical rituals and objects associated with Witchcraft might be used to protect neighbourhoods affected by questionable development and gentrification. Using bricolage as a methodology, the research conceptually blended the subversive role of the Witch with grass roots activism to create a guardian persona, the Artist-as-Witch. This role was underpinned by the notion of ‘enchantment’, which critiques disenchanted, modern values that commonly turn everything into commodities. Within this framework, a speculative place-lore based on the core principles of Witchcraft evolved. This was applied to three Sydney suburbs affected by the construction of the controversial WestConnex Motorway. A range of artistic outcomes, including apotropaic objects and installations, resulted from community workshops and ritual processes such as walking, gleaning and ‘tree shrining’. These outcomes sought to activate the mnemonic potential of fetish objects, the liminal magic of threshold zones, and the power of community engagement to express resistance to radical urban development.