Thérèse Anna Rafter
EARTH WELLS MILK BREAD
What aspects of Irish pre-Christian understandings of the sacred in nature can be retrieved or activated through the exploration of Irish mythical narratives and ritual practices? How might these insights be engaged within the contemporary context of the museum or gallery, when such spaces have historically displaced and displayed once-sacred objects relating to the natural world?
Drawing on feminist theology, ecofeminist theory and the relational frameworks embedded in the Irish language, this research investigates sites of worship, ritual practices and collective gathering to explore how sacredness in nature was historically understood. The Irish language, which predates the Hiberno-English spoken in Ireland today as a result of British colonial rule, lacks a possessive verb equivalent to “to have”. This reflects a worldview in which humans exist in relation to the land, animals and each other rather than exercising authority or possession. Possession, in the Irish language, is framed as a state of being rather than ownership, offering an alternative lens for understanding pre-Christian perceptions.
This research inquiry was prompted by an encounter with an okapi specimen at the Irish Natural History Museum in 2023 — a moment that revealed the necroaesthetic frameworks reinforced through museum display. Necroaesthetics can be understood as the drive to dominate and kill in order to display, normalising the exhibition of lifeless bodies in the name of science or spectacle (Springer & Turpin, 2019). In its native Congo, where the okapi is endemic, it was once considered a sacred creature and taboo to kill. Encountering this animal in the museum highlighted the relational awareness captured in the Irish concept of Grinn Aithint: the capacity to perceive the true essence of a being or event, seeing beyond the superficial to the core of someone or something (Magan, 2021). That day, I experienced a kind of awakening. Recognising these systems of display from another perspective encouraged me to ask: how did our ancestors perceive the living world? What are the politics of display that normalise necroaesthetics?
Through textual research, embodied fieldwork, the production of handcrafted spatial elements and the invitation of collective participatory actions, this project considers how relational aesthetics can inform the presentation of ancient knowledge in a contemporary setting.
References Magan, M. (2021) Breaking Bread. The Almanac of Ireland (podcast), RTÉ, July 2021. Springer, A.-S. & Turpin, É. (2019) ‘Compensatory Postures: On Natural History, Necroaesthetics, and Humiliation’, in Garcia, T. & Normand, V. (eds) Theater, Garden, Bestiary: A Materialist History of Exhibitions. Berlin: Sternberg Press, pp. 161–172.
Holy well, Kenmare, Co. Kerry, inscribed “1596 by Own O'Sullivan More”. Photograph, ca. 1860–1883. Stereo Pairs Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland. Created by James Simonton / Frederick Holland Mares.
Through photography and sculptural installation, Thérèse Anna Rafter's practice examines the mediation of nature within western culture. Challenging institutional representations of the living environment, her work creates encounters that aim to alter viewers' preconceptions, revealing the complex boundaries that shape human- animal-land relations.