CULTURE
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‘Go to the Work’ Beatrice Thomas discusses the siren call of creativity that cuts through the murk of our current moment. BY DANIEL BOSCALJON
O
ver the past five years, Witching Hour has become an innovator within festival cultures. While many festivals are stops on a circuit of touring bands that parade spectacles for passive participants, Witching Hour, like the Englert’s Mission Creek Festival, has created a different tonality, celebrating the arts as an expression of community. But its core value—seeking the unknown—allows the Englert’s collaboration with Little Village to offer a kind of festival that goes beyond the arts. Witching Hour has become increasingly well-regarded for bringing in speakers with creative approaches to educational, environmental and socioeconomic issues, explored through the lenses of science, yoga, meditation and spirituality. Speakers and artists in
“ART IS NOT PERFECTION, PARTICULARLY IN THIS MOMENT. I HAD A MOMENT WHEN I WANTED TO CURL UP AND DIE—BUT NO. I HAVE TO DO MY JOB. I’M AN ARTIST.” the Witching Hour line-up are multidimensional: Musicians can speak about the science of the stars, and astronomers can talk about the beauty of science. Their commitment to the unknown also frees the festival’s curators to be forward-looking—to highlight up-and-coming artists, music on the fringes, thinkers exploring the marginal. This was best represented last year by Beatrice Thomas, who spoke about creating art during the apocalypse and provided a well-attended workshop after. Thomas is the star and creator of Black Benetar’s Black Magic Cabaret, the principal 30 Oct. 7–Nov. 3, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV287
Witching Hour Festival Oct. 30-31 witchinghourfestival.com Candace Smith / via the artist’s website houseofbea.com
of Authentic Arts media, a cultural strategist, multi-disciplinary artist and creative producer. Their values-driven approach to amplifying and centering voices marginalized in other domains has given Thomas’s work increased prominence across the country. Thomas returns for the 2020 (all-virtual) Witching Hour Festival with a presentation working-titled “Meditations from the Apocalypse.” They’re taking a “mixtape” approach to the multimedia presentation, creating a digital collage from voiceovers, .gifs and performances. “I’m in a place that’s simultaneously full
and empty,” they told me in a recent interview, describing something familiar to many during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the combination of disruptions to the world—mail and media, environment and economy—Thomas realized that any plans made months ago were irrelevant, and became more responsive to the present moment. “This mixtape is really about what I want to carry into the future. It’s the little things that have been inspiring me over the last year, all of the things that I want to work on,” Thomas said.
