The term "coven" is used in magic and witchcraft to refer to a gathering of people, of individuals with similar interests or activities; an assembly or a group of insiders, usually consisting of 13 or 8 sorcerers. From the Latin "convenire", "conven" which means "to come together"; from the Middle English "covin" refers to a "gang", "circle" or "gang", in other words a collective, or a community of practice. Covens serve support, trust and sharing groups. The research coven thus borrows from different research methodologies, actions and creation that cross-cut knowledge or forms of knowledge. Intuitively derived from vernacular practices - such as neo-paganism - to those of arts committees and communities of practice from civil society. From its format experimental, the research coven questions the relationship between activism and magic, between art and activism, between esotericism and research, in order to understand the ways in which the socially engaged practices - artistic, political and vernacular - can transform reality and carry emancipatory ambitions from their circles. The research coven aims to reflect collectively on the role of the symbolic in vernacular and artistic practices, between intervention in the public space, performance and collaborative practices.
The Research coven gathers Camille Back (Montreuil), Celine Drouin Laroche (Montreuil), Isabelle Frémeaux & John Jordan, -h- from the Cellule d’Action Rituelle (Notre-Dame-des-Landes), Lise Lerichomme (Amiens), Lilly Markaki (London), Melodie Marull (Metz), Cynthia Montier (Strasbourg), Jonathan Naas (Altkirch), Ophélie Naessens (Metz), Sophie Prinssen (Strasbourg), Clémence de Montgolfier & Niki Korth from The Big Conversation Space (Paris – New York)