In this exhibition, you will be introduced to the re-discovered Gospel of Mary Magdalene and other hidden female lineages through the eyes of Jo Blake; local storyteller, dancer and performance maker. Although never officially labelled a heretic, Mary Magdalene’s gospel, and her particular brand of visionary Christianity, has never been officially sanctioned by the church. As the only gospel written in the name of a woman and buried for over 1500 years, it is still viewed by many as illegitimate. Magdalene’s fragmented testimony is emblematic of that which has been left out of the sacred in the West: woman, body, earth. Jo explores, reframes and questions hidden lineages inspired by her discovery of Mary’s gospel.

Jo also invites three artists to contribute to this exploration of what’s missing, what’s hidden and lineages we can uncover: dancer, poet and performance maker Izzy Brittain (Own the Crone with Apples & Snakes at ARC Stockton), local voice artist and academic Lisa Lapidge (Hotel Medea Trilogy UK, European and South American Tour with ZU-UK) and multidisciplinary artist Laura Burns (Wishbone Now 15 Festival, The Yard). 

Their work experiments with these hidden lineages through performance, ceremony, ritual, witchcraft, alchemy and embodiment as well as contesting some of these terms and practices.

This exhibition is part of a multi-stranded art project called Heresy inspired by the rediscovered Gospel of Mary Magdalene. The Heresy project reframes heresy as a courageous and life-giving act of transgression, that affirms a long-denied lineage of honouring the feminine in spiritual knowledge.