KATARZYNA MAJAK
Women of POWER
Central European House of Photography, Bratislava
19.12.2012 - 27.01.2013
Women of Power’ is a series 29 portraits of Polish witches, healers, enchanters, visionaries and spiritual leaders. According to what Ewelina Jarosz wrote about the project: “The title points to Katarzyna Majak’s intention to develop and socially rehabilitate women identifying themselves with the widely understood spirituality of their ancestors, Mother Goddess, pagan beliefs, and old sources of wisdom, which may still empower and inspire contemporary secularized consciousness by its valuable content and alternative energy”.
Poland is said to be more than 90% Catholic. Christianity was introduced centuries ago to have erased almost all the traces of paganism, witchcraft or shamanic traditions. Basically no line of heritage survived. Children at school learn Greek, Roman, or German mythology.
Only a few traditional healers (so called ‘whisperers’ who mix religion and primeval superstitions to heal and remove spells using prayers) survived on the Belarusian border and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Others will try to revive a dead tradition – they may have had grandmothers who could ‘see’ or were herb healers. Some others say the knowledge survived in the subconscious but there is a need to learn from outer traditions… Thus many, left with no other choice, travel abroad - to North America, Peru, or New Zealand - to learn, come back and mix the knowledge with some local traditions - old Slavs ceremonials or demonology. Most believe pagan spirit and witchcraft somehow managed to survive in the subconscious.
This fascinating journey from a woman to a woman (the youngest in her early 30s and the oldest in her late 80s) all over the country was my search for female wisdom and plurality of spiritual paths hidden within a monoreligious society. For many of my models it was a ‘coming out’. While shooting women wore ceremonial outfits and hold their ‘objects of power’.
The project has been selected a Critical Mass finalist, has been presented at artxwomen during AA Fair in Los Angeles (January 2012), in Porter Contemporary Gallery in New York (May - July 2012), Slovene Ethnomuseum in Ljubljana (Slovenia) (June – July 2012), as a part of ‘31 Women in Art Photography’ at Hasted Kraeutler Gallery in New York (July – August 2012).