Any Mummers ‘Lowed In?

EXCERPT FROM CATALOGUE TEXT BY TERRYL ATKINS

Emily Hope's Any Mummers ‘Lowed In? pays homage to a relatively overlooked cultural figure – the Wild Man. Throughout history, Wild Men have played integral roles in festivals, storytelling, art making, and other forms of popular and folk culture all over the world. Hope's rich body of work – which features the collection and creation of art and artefacts substantiated by robust research – catalogues a long history of fascination with this feral creature.

In September 2011, Hope founded The Wild Man Appreciation Society, a personal museum and civil society dedicated to the preservation and promotion of tales of the Wild Man. Since then, she has travelled extensively, focusing her research on potential connections between pre-Lenten masking traditions and festivals in the Northern Romanian region of Maramureș, and centuries-old Mummering traditions in Canada’s Eastern and Atlantic provinces.

Although from very different parts of the world, Hope demonstrates that customs, rituals and celebrations involving Wild Men share significant similarities both in appearance and function, and provide inspired examples of how cultural rites adapt over time. Through the careful and provocative use of large-scale photographs, linocuts, drawings and masks exhibited alongside didactics, song lyrics and excerpts from plays Hope's work effectively will engage gallery visitors in two vibrant models of intangible cultural heritage.