Exhibition
Hobby horses and horse girls; folklore, fetish + consent…
‘Oss Girls, Field System, Devon
May 2024
While the traditional hobby horse is generally viewed as a carnivalesque figure of fun whose wild antics help to temporarily suspend the norms and hierarchies of everyday life, legend suggests that women who are caught under the horse’s skirts become pregnant, gesturing towards a peculiarly predatory heteronormativity.
At the same time, ‘hobby horse’ is one of several names used to disparage girls and young women with a keen interest in horses (AKA ‘horse girls’), who are bullied for their social awkwardness and presumed erotic attachment to their equine companions.
What if the hobby horse was femme? What if ‘horse girls’ were celebrated, not mocked? How might folk practices of all kinds help us to navigate changing attitudes towards gender and intimacy?
REVIEWS
My Kingdom for an ‘Oss
“Wright is an ascendant star who seems entirely and univocally herself, no matter where and with whom she practices.”
Kirsteen McNeish, Caught by the River
Why the British folk scene is having a moment…
“Lucy is…a mainstay of a scene aiming to remove folk from male, pale and stale hands and return to them to the people”
Kate Spicer, Sunday Times Style
Unite and unite
A short video created with Jonny Randall and soundtrack by Lunatraktors, to accompany the ‘Oss Girls exhibition, launched 1 May 2024
Thanks to
Milly and Mark at Field System for EVERYTHING; Kirsteen McNeish and Kate Spicer for the gorgeous articles; Lunatraktors for the exhibition soundtrack, Jonny Randall for the visuals, Firefly Pottery for the last-minute ceramics firing!