PAC 2025: Witches

WITCHES - OUT OF THE SHADOW

October 25, 2024 - April 6, 2025

Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal’s archaeology and history complex, presents its new exhibition, an immersion into the little-known history of witches and their mysterious world. From marginalized figures, learn how these women influence popular culture and asserted their presence through the centuries. This experience of intersecting myths and reality reveals the essence of witches. 

For Halloween, the Museum is holding a special evening event, Witches’ Night Out. An out-of-the-ordinary experience in the heart of the archaeological remains, offering an immersive exploration of the exhibition and an introduction to the world of witchcraft. Thursday, October 31, 2024, from 7 pm to 1 am.

Evil, helpful, victim or rebel… the witch is a figure whose representations have evolved over the centuries and in our collective imagination. Against this backdrop, this exhibition takes visitors on a journey through 400 objects from the private and institutional collections of over 30 European and North American museums. They represent witnesses of the history of witches and their world.

Witch Hunting – A Historical Reality

In exploring the era of witch hunts in the 16th and 17th centuries, when tens of thousands of women were persecuted and executed, the exhibition takes a tangible approach to the construction of the myth of the diabolical witch: this woman responsible for illness, death, and all other manner of ills in a society in crisis. This historical immersion into Europe and North America allows to pull back the veil on the practices and trials that saw close to 100,000 women meet tragic fates, from banishment to the stake. Among the pieces on display is a copy of the Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches), the misogynistic and ell-known treatise that played a key role in legitimizing and intensifying the practice of witch hunting.

Ancestral Know-How and Esoteric Practices

The world of witchcraft is an open window onto a broad spectrum of know-how and practices. From knowledge of medicinal plants to the art of divination, visitors are invited to explore the rituals of sorcery through a vast array of symbolic objects. Pendulums, crystals, tarot cards, and herbariums—the artifacts that reveal the powers attributed to the practices of sorcery, such as healing, enchantment, protection, and predicting the future.

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All Photos @ Nadia Slejskova

For more information on the current exhibitions, activities and programs, visit the PAC Museum's website.

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