‘And whither we are going we all will unite’: curating Ritual Britain
John McMahon interviews Simon Costin, Founder/Director of the Museum of British Folklore, about a spellbinding new exhibition on British calendar customs
Running at London’s Crypt Gallery from 4 June to 4 July, Ritual Britain is a new gallery show exploring the calendar customs of the British Isles. A collaboration between the Museum of British Folklore and the artist Ben Edge, the exhibition marries a broad selection of objects from the MOBF collection with 20 original paintings by Edge which render a range of traditions – from the Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance to the Padstow ‘Obby ‘Oss, to the Burry Man of South Queensferry and the Mari Lwyd of South Wales – in a series of vibrantly stylised, quasi-devotional tableaux.
The exhibition also includes a new film, Frontline Folklore, which documents Edge’s deep excavation of the same 20 customs across the 2019 ritual year – splicing footage of the events themselves with illuminating participant interviews that address both the origins and contemporary purpose of the practices in question. Given the then-unforeseen, but ultimately immense disruption of the traditional calendar (and pretty much everything else) over the period since, Frontline Folklore already seems like a sacred short-range time-capsule from the pre-Covidian age. It might also be interpreted as a roadmap for re-connection and re-enchantment of our frayed and fragmented communities in the post-pandemic, post-Brexit era.
The Museum of British Folklore has no fixed abode at present, instead travelling the country to collaborate with artists and institutions who share a commitment to the folk arts and vernacular culture. Here, the museum’s Founder and Director Simon Costin reflects upon the exhibition, as well as MOBF’s joyously itinerant journey to this point; and his exciting plans for the future…
How did the Ritual Britain exhibition come about?
When Ben approached us with the idea of doing a joint exhibition, we were initially a little wary due to having been contacted by several young artists who just seemed to be working with folklore themes as a means of shameless self promotion! Once I went to see Ben’s work however, it was apparent that his interest was not in the least superficial; and that although his interest in seasonal customs was relatively recent, it had had a deep effect on him, and this was reflected in his work. Also, his filming of the customs showed a lively eye and the interviews he got from people were really interesting too, so we agreed to mount a show together.
Are there particular items that you’d encourage FRUK readers to look out for in the show? And, what are you hoping for people to come away from the exhibition feeling, thinking or doing?
The exhibition really acts as a very small taster as to the huge variety of seasonal customs which take place across the UK each year. Obviously Ben’s paintings and film have been inspired by his observing these rites and rituals, and so give an insight as to how they can enrich someone’s artistic practice and to help open up a discourse into the subject as a whole. As for particular items within the show, I would encourage visitors to see the small selection of the 245 Morris Dolls we have in the collection. They embody so many of the things that MOBF holds dear; community, artistic expression, passion, history and heritage.
I would hope that people come away with the desire to learn more about the subject as a whole, and perhaps that desire will help to encourage those in power who hold the purse strings to re-evaluate why folklore and intangible heritage is important to people, now more than ever.
Please could you tell me a bit about how the Museum of British Folklore started, and how it now functions?
The museum project was born of frustration really. Having had a lifelong interest in the folklore of the UK, I always found it strange that apart from the odd small collection of artefacts in regional collections, there was no one place that could be visited which cherished, explored and preserved elements, stories and the history of the UK’s seasonal customs and traditions.
Having spent years bemoaning the fact, a friend of mine, Hilary Williams, who was then the director of Ditchling Museum, suggested I get off my backside and try to do something – so I took to the road to gauge whether or not a museum of folklore would be of interest to the general public, or if I was alone in my desire to create one. I bought a 1976 Castleton Tourer caravan and set off for 6 months travelling across the UK and visiting towns and villages where customs took place, and also many folk music festivals, and the reaction was always the same: ‘Why is there nothing in the UK which values our rich vernacular culture?’
Having completed the tour by the end of 2009 I was contacted by Mellany Robinson who became the Museum’s project manager; and so began a series of profile-raising events which culminated in exhibitions in a wide range of venues from the Whitechapel Gallery in London, the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, Compton Verney in Warwickshire and the Museum of East Anglian Life, amongst others. In each instance we work closely with the institution’s curatorial team, with the aim of creating engaging and unique exhibitions which highlight aspects of UK folklore.
What drew you towards calendar customs? Are there any links, overlaps or points of resonance with your background in fashion and set design?
When I was 11 years old and on holiday in Cornwall, we were wandering around Padstow on the morning of May 1st. The first thing I can remember was the sound of an accordion and a drum and a mass of voices singing.
Unite and unite and let us all unite,
For summer is a-come unto day,
And whither we are going we will all unite,
In the merry morning of May.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the sight that met my eyes when we turned a corner and met the crowd of people singing. They were surrounding an enormous black, circular shape, twisting and turning and topped with a strange conical mask decked out with ribbons and black hair. Although everyone seemed to be smiling, I found the whole thing quite terrifying. What was this creature that had been unleashed? Of course I now know that it was the Padstow Oss (which of the two, I don’t know), but at the time it seemed like a thing possessed of a strange energy that had infected all of those around it. This was to be one of the first moments when everything shifted and I saw the world in a totally different way. Here were people, ordinary people like you or I, engaged in something that to my young eyes seemed totally otherworldly.
Later, back at home, my Mother pulled off the shelf a book she had recently bought from the Reader’s Digest, Folklore, Myths and Legends of Great Britain. This weighty tome became my bible. Here was a regional guide to all of those weird and wonderful seasonal customs and events that take place across the UK every year. It planted the seed that has brought me to where I am today.
Growing up with atheist parents, there was always a vague feeling that there might just be another way of viewing the world, not in terms of religion but in terms of magic. Not rabbits being pulled from a hat, but real, visceral magic. The stuff of fire, earth, water and air; music, dancing and becoming something other, if only for a day. Every culture across the world likes to celebrate what makes them human, and folklore is the word that is given to those most human of expressions. The desire for community, culture and belonging have never gone away and in the present day seem to be yearned for even more.
My work as a set designer is informed, I hope, by a sense of the magical but there are very few overlaps at all to be honest. Having said that, it has been my work as a set designer which has funded the MOBF project to date.
How does MOBF intersect with your work at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic?
I took the reins as director and owner of the MWM 8 years ago. There are distinct overlaps in MOBF and MWM. We currently have a new exhibition at the MWM which explores the folklore of Cornwall and its myths and legends, entitled In the Land of the Bucca. We have taken a lease on a new space in Launceston which will enable us to show exhibitions from both collections and create some interesting synergies between the two.
What are your future plans or aspirations for MOBF?
The ultimate goal is to establish a permanent home for the collection, but we keep coming up against the same problem when it comes to funding. Folklore has been undervalued and overlooked for so long that the powers that be see very little worth in it despite everything that it represents, such as community, belonging, inclusivity and above all celebration. For the time being the whole collection is in storage in Dover, but we are planning several exhibitions around the UK which will run through 2022/23. We have also taken a lease on a building in Launceston, as I mentioned and will be opening a combined arts/museum space to show items from the collection starting in the summer of 2021. Hopefully fundraising will be easier once we have a space to work out of. Our Morris Doll project is also ongoing. This came about as a means of not only recording the wide variety of Morris teams in the UK, but also as a way to directly involve the teams in the creation of their figure.
MOBF is a long-term project and we are hoping that, as interest in the subject increases, the project may seem worthy of funding so that it can move forward.
Ritual Britain runs from Friday 4 June to Sunday 4 July at the Crypt Gallery, New St Pancras Church, London (Thursday-Sunday 12-6pm, no appointment necessary; Mon-Weds booking required). A series of events also accompany the exhibition, including the premier of Edge’s film Frontline Folklore (Saturday 12 June); a panel discussion with Edge, Costin and the broadcaster Zakia Sewell (Saturday 19th June); A performance by Boss Morris and screening of Way of the Morris (Saturday 26 June); and a closing talk by folklorist and author Jeremy Harte (Saturday 3 July). Booking details at https://cryptgallery.org/event/ben-edge-and-the-museum-of-british-folklore-ritual-britain
To see more of Ben Edge’s work visit https://www.benedge.co.uk, and to find out more about MOBF, go to http://www.museumofbritishfolklore.com
The shifting tides of the customs referenced can be explored at https://traditionalcustomsandceremonies.wordpress.com, and at https://www.facebook.com/groups/Traditionalcustomsandceremonies
Credits: The Obby Oss of Padstow, Ben Edge, 2017 (© Ben Edge)
Simon Costin at Hastings Jack-in-the-Green, 2009 (© MOBF)