Witches of Design interweaves
design with the rebellious and
feminist figure of the witch, based on the history of the messianic, socialist, utopian, and egalitarian Shaker sect in the 18th century.
Starting from the story of Ann Lee, the founder of the egalitarian Shaker sect in 1774, Witches of Design combines the tenets of Shaker design–famous for its rocking chairs, flat brooms and other iconic objects–with the seditious figure of the witch. In 1837, the community's established ritual order was disrupted by impromptu bouts of ecstatic trances–the start of the so-called Era of Manifestations. Driven by the spirit of Ann Lee, unruly sisters began to shake, spin and misappropriate the sect's design objects in order to regain the freedom that had been insidiously taken from them over time. An account in which the history of design intersects with rebellion, trance and the creative power of women.
Launched by mudac—the Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts in Lausanne—Raddar is a series of texts dedicated to design research. Raddar will appeal to anyone interested in objects, spaces, architecture, graphics and visual forms, including their representation, circulation, history, technical evolution, significance and material make-up.
Scholarly and provocative, poetic and disruptive, Raddar presents new interpretations of the defining role of design in today's culture. Outstanding as well as young and unexpected voices from all fields of design meet those from the social and cultural sciences, art, science, literature and beyond. A space for dialogue, criticism, discussion, speculation and surprise, Raddar aims to point its antennae at the various complex issues of design, revealing the semantic, visual and aesthetic richness of this field as well as its social, political and economic dimensions.
A professor of art and
design history and theory at
HEAD – Genève/HES-SO, Alexandra Midal is a practicing artist and independent curator whose research into visual culture translates into works, exhibitions, books and films.
