A Gallus Un

A Gallus Un is an immersive installation exploring feminine folklore, superstition and the stories that gather around women in rural communities. The work grew from research into the notebooks of Lincolnshire folklorist Mabel Peacock, whose collections of dialect phrases, charms and local tales reveal a world shaped by belief, rumour and imagination. The title comes from a phrase once used to describe a troublesome or unruly woman, spoken half in mockery and half in fear.

The installation forms a circular environment of large painted calico banners layered with stitching, feathers and small symbolic objects. Fragments of folklore – witches and familiars, drowned women, magpies and charms – appear as ambiguous presences rather than moral warnings. A subtle soundscape of recorded voices repeating fragments of dialect moves quietly through the space, echoing the way stories travel between people, shifting through memory and retelling.

Commissioned by North Lincolnshire Museum for the Rural Life Museum.

Sound design by Peter Richards. Photography by Marie-Laurence Boisvert.