The exhibition, which was previously shown in Kalmar, can be seen in Stockholm until May and was created by the artist Pompe Hedengren in collaboration with set designer Erik Gullberg and history teacher and presenter Cecilia Düringer. Later, it will go on tour around the country.
Through texts, films, still images, and built environments, the exhibition primarily tells the story of the witch trials and the people who became their victims.
We want to depict the 17th-century Swedish witch trials, where 300 people were killed, but also tell about the mythological aspects of witches, says Cecilia Düringer to TT.
"Possessed" by the witch trials
In one room, the mythology surrounding witches and the devil worship that lay behind it is depicted. The devil was considered a real entity.
Pompe Hedengren says that he has long been "possessed" by the events.
A few years ago, I delved deeper into my obsession with the witch trials, I visited Älvdalen and Torsåker, the places where the trials took place. I met historians, bishops, modern witches.
This led him to start thinking about creating an exhibition together with his collaboration partner Erik Gullberg. Then he contacted Cecilia Düringer to hear if she was interested in participating.
While Hedengren and Gullberg created the exterior, Düringer wrote the texts for the exhibition. Hedengren spent two years using AI to create portraits of how 30 of the victims might have looked.
These women are anonymous, they are numbers in a history book. I wanted to honor them by portraying them. I have photographed, I have worked with costume designers, it has been a very long digital process.
Americans were inspired
The exhibition shows how the witch trials started, what caused them, and what led to their abrupt end in 1676.
When they were ongoing in Sweden, similar trials were about to cease in Europe. In America, they heard about it, and it was likely an inspiration for the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1690s, says Cecilia Düringer.
During the guided tour of the museum, specially composed music is played, created by Lasse Sander and Fredrik Sundberg – music that ranges from almost ethereal to horror film-inspired dramatic.
In March, the book "Witches" will be published, where Hedengren and Düringer tell the story of the history of witchcraft in Sweden and the witch trials.
The exhibition was first shown at Kalmar Castle, but has been specially adapted for the Historical Museum in Stockholm.
Here, among other things, a 400-year-old Icelandic black magic book from the museum's collections has been added. The museum also holds daily introductions to the exhibition on the theme "Witches, do they exist?"
