Folk magic collections and pagan community engagement

An innovative project hosted by the Pitt Rivers Museum and Treadwell's London, led by Tom Crowley and Nigel Jeffries (MOLA), supported by the Folklore Museums Network.

The project brought together independent curators, artists, academics, and members of the pagan community, to understand the personal connections between object collections - particularly those relating to folklore and folk magic - and pagan practitioners. The project has recently published a series of outcomes and guidance material for curators:

‘Amulets, charms, and witch bottles: Thinking about ‘magical’ objects in museum collections through collaborative interaction between academics and curators with Pagans, witchcraft practitioners and other communities with spiritual investment’ 

The project was a MOLA Impact Acceleration Account project supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/X003523/1). 

You can also read FMN's write up of the project in Museums Journal here.