A New Kind of Salon

“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” —Roald Dahl

Why is magic making a resurgence in our collective conscience? The quest to perceive, conjure, capture and bottle it is age old. It’s been the provenance of artists and imposters, saints and witches, scientists and charlatans, and all of those looking to enchant, transform, and transcend the realm of reality.

Their quests, improbable as it seems, have common themes.

Famed Nobel Prize-winning scientist Niels Bohr kept a horseshoe hung at his entrance for good luck, baffling guests who thought him impervious to superstition. To them he replied: “It brings luck to even those who don’t believe in it.”

Do you believe in magic? Alexander the Great, Newton, Yeats, Alejandro Jodorowsky… visionaries, scientists, magicians, surrealists of all stripes, and others did and still do. To each their own brand of magic!

Yet the question seems to linger in our collective consciousness anew. Fairy tales have reemerged as a rich source material and reference point. Even Woody Allen, ever the consummate zeitgeist reader, has a new movie out called “Magic in the Moonlight.” Why this sudden interest in magic? What are we really after when we look for it? Knowledge, power, enchantment, remedy… or just freedom from the shackles of our own reality?

To explore this, I am curating a salon that is an amalgamation of art show, literary reading, conversation and ultimately an immersive shared experience. The salon is part of the Magic without Tricks exhibition at the Nave Gallery Annex, and will take place on Friday, September 12, from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm.

In anticipation of the salon, I want to find out your thoughts (and superstitions!) on magic. So, take my magic questionnaire and share them with me.

Hope you can make it!

— Arlinda Shtuni

DATE & TIME: Friday, September 12, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Nave Gallery Annex, 53 Chester St, Somerville, MA