Please note that this event has already occured.
Key information
Date: Tuesday 29 November 2022
Time: 5:45pm to 8:00pm
Looking for Black Mary
Artist-curator Gaylene Gould and team are on a creative mission to revive Black Mary’s Hole, a fabled 17th Century healing well where, legend has it, a black woman Mary Woolaston lived and worked on the Kings Cross/Clerkenwell border. But who was Black Mary? Did she exist? If so how and what kind of healing practices might she have used? And what about London’s forgotten healing water centre? What would a contemporary healing centre look like if it were influenced by the traditions of London’s global communities? These are the questions that will be explored in The Black Mary Project and this live research event will be a first opportunity to explore them with the creative team.
We’ll start at Calthorpe Community Gardens where, next year, Black Mary’s Hole will be reimagined through a new artist memorial, healing garden, Healing Tour and a Festival before making our way to Lumen Rooms. On the way, we’ll reflect on our own healing stories before participating in a conversation with artists, historians, thinkers and community members where we’ll try and find Black Mary and unearth her legacy together. The conversation will be led by Gaylene Gould and feature Kelly Foster, the Project’s researcher, sharing the latest historical information on Black Mary.
The Black Mary Project is by The Space To Come a company that curates imaginative interactive experiences that centre art, conversation, feeling and care. The Space to Come is led by Founder and Creative Director Gaylene Gould, an Artistic Director with 30 years experience and supported by Producer, Zaynab Bunsie. This event is part of the London Unseen season supported by the Mayor of London and celebrating London’s community histories.
This event is free to the public thanks to funding from the Mayor of London's Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm.