On October 16, 2024, Alexandra Foradas presented “Technologies of Magic: Contemporary Artists and Rituals, Talismans, and Folklore” at the MOSAIC Event Space in North Adams.
The MOSAIC Event Space, located at 49 Main Street in North Adams, serves as a hub for artistic and cultural events, fostering creative expression and community engagement. It hosts a variety of happenings, from art exhibitions and lectures to performances, focusing on interdisciplinary approaches that blend culture, art, and academic inquiry.
MOSAIC’s programming aims to enrich the local community, including MCLA students, by offering diverse and thought-provoking experiences in a welcoming environment. The venue plays an important role in North Adams’ vibrant arts scene, aligning itself with the liberal arts values of exploration and collaboration.
The lecture delved into the relationship between technology and magic, illustrating the ways contemporary artists utilize this intersection to explore power, healing, and resistance against control systems. Marketing materials outside of the exhibit say it explores “the opacity lent by the convergence of technology and magic offers fertile ground for contemporary artists: for seeking power, solace, and healing, and for refusing systems’ efforts to control their lives and stories.”
During the presentation, Foradas, an art historian and curator at MASS MoCA, discussed two of her notable curatorial projects: “Like Magic” and “Osman Khan: Road to Hybridabad.” These exhibitions examine how technologies of magic—ranging from AI and divination to rituals and talismans—play a crucial role in contemporary artistic expression. Foradas described ways artists incorporate these elements to challenge societal structures and reclaim control over their narratives.
The exhibition “Osman Khan: Road to Hybridabad,” which opened at MASS MoCA in May 2024, showcases Khan’s exploration of the intersection between folklore, technology, and identity. Drawing inspiration from South Asian and Middle Eastern myths, the exhibition features large-scale, interactive installations—such as an animatronic djinn and a drone-powered flying carpet—all of which reflect Khan’s interest in reinterpreting traditional narratives using modern technologies.
The “Like Magic” exhibition at MASS MoCA explores the intersection between magic and contemporary art, focusing on rituals, folklore, talismans, and the mysterious ways technology can blend with mystical practices. It looks at artists harnessing the concept of “magic” to challenge systems of power, evoke healing, and explore their own identities through various forms of media, including visual art, performance, and artificial intelligence.
By creating works that feel both mystical and grounded in the present, the exhibition taps into deeper cultural, spiritual, and social dialogues. The work joins together the unity and intersectionality that artists employ.
Foradas has an impressive portfolio, having curated exhibitions by notable artists like the aforementioned Osman Khan, as well as Jason Moran and Taryn Simon at MASS MoCA. She previously taught at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Hunter College, actively engaging in the academic discourse surrounding contemporary art. Her expertise lies in modern and contemporary art, with a particular focus on the intersections between visual art, performance, and the technologies involved in knowledge transmission. Those technologies are varied: libraries, the internet, myths and legends, translation, ritual, and embodied experience all fall under the umbrella.
The lecture was part of the “Politics of the Visual” series, ongoing throughout 2024-2025 and organized by Dr. Victoria Papa. Its motive is to explore the political dimensions of visual representation. This event, supported by Hardman Special Initiatives and MOSAIC, drew students and community members eager to engage in discussions about the role of art in addressing complex social and cultural phenomena.
For MCLA students, this lecture offered a unique opportunity to reflect on how technology and magic can inspire resistance and agency, resonating with the liberal arts ethos of interdisciplinary exploration.
MOSAIC event space will be holding more workshops as the year progresses, watch MOSAIC’s webpage for details.
