Future Folk Archetypes
“Folk is the stuff we make, do and think for ourselves—and the radical potential of these things.”
What if ‘folklore’ wasn’t just a niche interest, but a potent agent for resistance and change?
About Lucy
Lucy Wright is an artist based in Leeds, UK. Her practice sits at the intersection of folklore and activism, often using as source material her 10+ years of cited research into lesser-known contemporary and female-led folk customs.
Following a stint as the lead singer in BBC Folk Award-nominated act, Pilgrims' Way, Wright received a Vice Chancellor’s scholarship from Manchester School of Art for her PhD before becoming a Visiting Research Fellow in Folklore at University of Hertfordshire in 2019. Recent activities include residencies at Analogue Farm and Morning Boat, Jersey; solo shows at Field System, Devon; Portico Library, Manchester and South Square, Bradford; group shows at Leeds Art Gallery and Compton Verney and features in Sunday Times Style, Caught by the River and Katherine May’s Clearing. Commissions include from the National Waterways Museum, Marchmont House, Daiwa Foundation and Meadow Arts.
She is a ‘hedge morris dancer’, author of the ‘Folk is a Feminist Issue’ manifesta, and originator of ‘Dusking’, a 100% invented tradition and annual participatory project for anyone who has ever wanted to dance the sun down!
'a vital, questioning, vibrant force of nature...Wright is an ascendant star who seems entirely and univocally herself, no matter where and with whom she practices. '
—Caught by the River, Kirsteen McNish
'mainstay of a scene aiming to remove folk from male, pale and stale hands and return to them to the people'
—Sunday Times Style, Kate Spicer
Sun Down!
Mirie it is (Dusking performance, 2024)
Film by Jonny Randall | Soundtrack by Elspeth Anne, feat. Jen Reid
Recorded as part of the ‘Cultures of’ residency at University of Huddersfield
Photo by Leonie Freeman