March for the Witch

The video is a part of the research-based art project Lost Element / The reconstruction of the Witch and refers to the story of an Austrian woman sculptor of Jewish-Russian origin, Teresa Feodorowna Ries, who lived in Vienna before 1938. In 1895, she completed a sculpture entitled The Witch, preparing herself for the Witches' Sabbath. The meaningful element of the sculpture – the hand with shears – disappeared in unclear circumstances and is still missing. The video depicts contemporary women sculpture students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where Teresa Ries was not allowed to study because she was a woman. The inequalities in access to education that women struggled one hundred years ago seem to be solved today. However, there are still social inequalities that affect access to education, especially art education, which is not the cheapest one. The video also evokes the character of the witch. The witch, in a way the word is usually used, means somebody, usually a woman, who uses her magical power to harm people. However, during the last decades, 'the witch' also became a positive character, representing the empowerment of women and all minorities challenging the society based on patriarchal values.

The sculpture by Teresa Ries has been deprived of the hand with a tool that could be interpreted as a symbol of agency. The video-work depicting the hands of young women sculptors during the stope workshop is a symbolic reconstruction of a 'lost element' in the context of women's rights, including the right to education, shaping reality and rebellion.