The American LGBTQ+ Museum

Event Description:

As witchcraft practitioners, contemporary religious scholars, and cultural (re)organizers, queer leaders of Pagan and Wiccan communities share experiences reconciling the historical trauma of past witch trials and attempted cultural erasure with their work building dynamic communities. In partnership, the American LGBTQ+ Museum and New-York Historical’s Center for Women’s History welcome you to celebrate the new exhibition, The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming (on view in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery from October 7, 2022 to January 22, 2023).

The evening will commence with a performance by Catherine Cabeen, modern dancer and choreographer, followed by a discussion about the role and power of queerness in the reclaiming of witchcraft as an identity today. Join  Marcelitte Failla, a Black and biracial educator, researcher, and scholar of African heritage religions in the United States and throughout the African diaspora; Christopher Penczak, modern Witch and co-founder of the Temple of Witchcraft tradition and community; and Raquel Salas Rivera, a Puerto Rican poet, translator, editor, and founding member of the Yerbamala Collective in conversation with moderator Ben Garcia, Executive Director of the American LGBTQ+ Museum as they discuss the role queerness plays in the difficult task of reclaiming witchcraft.

After the panel attendees are invited to tour the exhibition and experience an environmental performance created by Catherine Cabeen and dancers Marie Lloyd Paspe and Diovanna Obafunmilayo, as well as a reading from Raquel Salas Rivera.