a collaboration by Stefan Dorner (drums, keyboard), Stephanie Müller aka Rag Treasure (voice), Laura Theis (piano composition, text, vocals), Fabian Zweck (sound design + mix)
This track is based on a poem written by and a piano instrumental composed by Laura Theis (Oxford, UK) during a hybrid art and music exchange hosted by the Antonie-Leins-Künstler*innenhaus and the Stadtmuseum in Horb am Neckar (Germany) in August 2021. Together with Klaus Erika Dietl (Munich, Germany), Either Or (Tucson, Arizona, USA), Helena Hartmann (Ahaus, Germany) and Stephanie Müller (Munich, Germany), Laura Theis worked on "Koyotenzauber und Wettergesang" (Coyote Magic and Weather Voices), a trilogy of interventions in public space.
Back then they followed the path of Christina Rauscher. In the 17th century she managed to stop the prosecution of so-called witches in her district and beyond. Following her strong, weak, desparate and empowering moments, the artists performed at different locations in Horb am Neckar. Amongst others in the midst of the archive where all the delicate witch hunt documents (15th, 16th and 17th century) are still stored. Laura Theis developed a series of compositions and texts for the public interventions.
lyrics
Christina
correct me if I am wrong
but you seem to see me
as something small and worthless
that can be broken like an egg or a promise
look again
look closely
and you might just see something
more terrifying than witchcraft: a woman
who knows her rights
believes in justice
holds on to her power
a woman who can not be silenced or frightened
yes you have broken every bone in
my body yes you have taken
a year of my life in which you have tortured and harmed
me every single day and often at night
and since you could not murder me
you have murdered
my baby and still
I have not confessed
to being a witch
and I never will
I am not a witch
I am not
a witch but do you know what I am?
what you have made me?
I am the woman who will
bring this whole foul system crumbling down
I do not care what it takes
or how long
your violence has taught me that time
is near-insignificant
I will not sleep I will not rest
until you are taken to court
as the thugs and thieves that you are
for taking away my inviolate rights
my strength will come from the knowledge that
I am not doing it for myself
but for every last innocent yet-unborn child and their mother
who have no voice but mine
you may have noticed that my influence
which scares you so much
has remained untouched
by your instruments of torture
that my pain has been forged
into knife blades
you may have seen it in my eyes
you may have noticed that
the human will
is a power beyond witchcraft
and that mine is eerily, disturbingly strong
correct me if I’m wrong
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