Bookscapes Collective at The Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garrett.

10/2/2025

'After Dark Vapours Have Oppressed Our Plains'
John Keats

Bookscapes Collective Exhibition at The Old Operating Theatre, 2025.

"After dark vapours have oppress'd our plains,
For a long dreary season, comes a day
Born of the gentle south, and clears away
From the sick heavens all unseemly stains"

These words by John Keats were the starting point for our collaborative work for the Medicine and Superstition Exhibition. Given its beginnings started in January 2020, our plans were abruptly placed on hold by the Covid 19 pandemic. we felt Keats words resonated perfectly with that unprecedented year - they speak of hope and healing.

Gathering our research and thoughts together, we proceeded to explore the historic use of knots. Knots have been part of our everyday life for millennia. Alongside their practical uses they have attracted many superstitious and magical properties. Evidence suggests that knots were among the earliest and most important prehistoric amulets. The relationship between knots and amulets is an intimate one. Their power is ambiguous - they bind or release, create or destroy and have the capacity for both good and evil. We settled on exploring this fascinating subject with an emphasis on healing and protective properties.

Knots are essential for suturing the body after surgery, the practice forming a fundamental part of contemporary surgical training. Charging a ward' is the process of using an object as an anchor point for energy for the purpose of protection and spiritual defence, rendering an everyday object or material into an enchanted or empowering object. Energy is gathered and focussed onto the object for holding and releasing slowly over time. When we cross our fingers, tie a knot to remind us of something, or talk of how we are tied or bound to people or places, we are evoking this long history of knot work and superstition.

This collaborative installation of knot work was made with positive intention and focus by the group : Jules Allen, Heather Hunter, Jo Howe, Jen Fox Karen Apps & Chris Ruston.