In this episode, Rebecca Burns speaks with Dr Su Fahy, artist and curator, whose work explores ritual, vision, dream, archives, legacy artists, and the dialogue between historical and contemporary creative practice.
Together, they discuss Su’s current project, The String of Pearls, which is unfolding across the UK and seeks to reprise the reputation of women artists who have been written out of the art historical canon. Working in association with Feminist Archive South and University of Bristol Special Collections, the project traces the lives, works, letters, paintings, rituals, and creative networks of women artists connected to Monica Sjöö and the radical feminist, visionary, and goddess-centred art movements of the 1970s.
The conversation explores DIY exhibition-making, feminist manifestos, sacred sites, matriarchal landscapes, spiral symbolism, pilgrimage, goddess culture, and the importance of treating archives as living spaces of care rather than static repositories of the past.
Su also reflects on bringing Jill Smith’s Spiral Ritual into contemporary spaces, including Therapeutic Landscapes, and the power of ritual to create reverence and embodied connection within an exhibition or gathering.
About:
Dr. Su Fahy's work focuses on ritual, vision & dream within legacy artists work in archives and linking their work to contemporary artists through text and image documents and lens-based media.
Links:
Monica Sjöö Curatorial: www.monicasjoocuratorial.com
Instagram Projects: @monica_sjoo
Instagram: @memoryartpalace
Therapeutic Landscapes: www.therapeutic-landscapes.org
