18. 6. 2026–13. 8. 2026 Maleficae: The Judgement Tower
Maleficae: The Judgement Tower
UGM Kabinet, Strossmayerjeva ulica 6
18 June – 13 August 2026
opening: Thursday, 18 June 2026, 19:00
Artists: Veronika Eberhart, Mitja Ficko, Vala T. Foltyn, Anamaria Klajnšček, Katalin Kortmann-Járay in Karina Mendreczky, Ana Likar, Chloé Macary-Carney, Dorottya Poór
Curators: Flóra Gadó, Jure Kirbiš, Dalma Eszter Kollár
Coordination: Júlia Meszelics
The many crises of recent years have renewed interest in spirituality, with alternative belief systems and practices offering increasing numbers of people either an escape from reality or a means of coping with the events unfolding around them. Among Generations Y and Z, spiritual practices such as tarot reading, crystal and plant healing, and astrology have become especially widespread.
Maleficae: The Judgement Tower is the third chapter of Maleficae: From Bonfires to Online Witchcraft, which premiered at the Budapest Gallery in 2024. Departing from the observations above, the exhibition focused on the figure of the witch: a bearer of non-canonical knowledge, a practitioner of non-institutional forms of healing, and a pioneer of feminism who refused to conform to the social norms of her time, often providing support and solidarity to other women. The second chapter of the exhibition was staged at Šopa Gallery in Košice last year.
This latest re-curated version presents works from the original exhibition alongside newly selected artworks for the present occasion. The international group exhibition has two direct connections to Maribor. First, the Judgement Tower, located by the river Drava near the gallery and, according to local legend, a site of witch trials, lends the exhibition its subtitle. Accordingly, this iteration of Maleficae places particular emphasis on the historical reinterpretation of witch trials: the brutal silencing and punishment of women beginning in the late Middle Ages. Second, the contemporary artworks enter into dialogue with the collection of the Maribor Art Gallery, namely The Midnight School by painter Mitja Ficko, positioned as the centre of the exhibition and depicting a wild gathering of wise women.
From the witch hunts of Central and Eastern Europe (Katalin Kortmann-Járay and Karina Mendreczky, Ana Likar) to contemporary feminist investigations inspired by the writings of Silvia Federici (Veronika Eberhart), the exhibition approaches history as cyclical and asks how artists revisit past events in order to project them into the present.
The exhibition will also feature a selection of zines and an opening performance by Anamaria Klajnšček.
In present time, the term “witch” can still be understood as derogatory; however, through the lens of fiction – fairy tales, literature, film – and theory, the archetype of the witch has evolved into a more layered understanding of women's position throughout history. Today, some women have reclaimed the term and adopt it as an expression of identity and community within a lineage of persecuted women.
Although we have given the exhibition the subtitle connected to the legend of the supposed witch trials associated with the Judgement Tower, the exhibition’s authors also wish to highlight the fact that such stories often reinforce stereotypes and trivialize violence against women. Narratives about witch trials, when presented as a tourist attraction, for example, reveal a morbid fascination with the torture and destruction of women’s bodies, while the victims of this violence are still referred to as witches, even though they were not.
In an effort to demythologize the alleged events connected to the Judgement Tower, we invited historian Boris Hajdinjak to collaborate on the project. You may find his text linked here.
The exhibition Maleficae: The Judgment Tower in UGM Kabinet is the result of a collaboration between Budapest Gallery – Hungarian capital’s leading municipal institution for contemporary art – and UGM | Maribor Art Gallery. Last year, this partnership produced the exhibition When We Became Strangers. Selection from the EKO 9 Triennial at Budapest Gallery. The exhibition is supported by the Liszt Institute - Hungarian Cultural Centre Ljubljana.
