On Mass Hysteria

Spotlight on Laia Abril exhibition.

A thick black cloth muffles the screaming as hands grasp for air in the void, standing before her voiceless desperation. The eyes, eyelids, and eyelashes are condensed into a single sombre blotch: the light that the iris should reflect gives way to emptiness, to a blind scream reverberating through the disjointed lines of her figure,
shaken by a movement tinged with despair. A hand emerges from the right edge of the snapshot, seizing her by the wrist, and the firmness of the gesture contrasts with the spasm that traverses the rest of the image: there is no possibility of listening. The diagnosis has already been made, and the silencing of the lament is its cure.

Stumbling Into Female Oppression
In the dimly lit space of LE BAL in Paris, retroprojections on walls echo dismissed ailments through blood-red phrases, while dark rooms, shaken by the violent glow of spotlights, showcase photographs of acts of subjugation and related snippets of life. Among them, a photograph captures a group of factory workers whose faces and bodies have been blurred until reaching anonymity, and a birthday cake with such ghastly flames that they seem to allude to a sabbatic ritual. Supported by Women In Motion, a program by Kering that highlights women in the arts and culture, On Mass Hysteria / A History of Misogyny is the latest chapter in Catalan artist and researcher Laia Abril’s ongoing project retracing the history of misogyny and male control over female bodies. Continuation of the previous segments On Abortion (2016) and On Rape (2020), the artist offers through the recent installation a visual exploration of collective hysteria: a phenomenon particularly prevalent within small communities of women, often subjugated by various forms of power, whether religious, racial, professional, or educational.

“These form the backbone of her practice, amplifying voices that have long been silenced.”

Laia Abril, FEELINGS, News Series (Case 2, Cambodia, On Mass Hysteria), 2023, Courtesy Galerie Les filles du calvaire, Paris © Laia Abril

Haunting and Unexplainable Epidemics
The research behind the LE BAL’s installation traces back to 2016, when Abril was in Nepal conducting a study on Menstruation Myths. There, she came across a newspaper article reporting a case of a fainting epidemic among schoolgirls and was surprised to discover how widespread the phenomenon was in the latter country. As her research progressed, she observed how contemporary science and medicine had largely failed to offer effective explanations for these outbreaks, often dismissing them as collective fabrications by female individuals merely seeking attention. Such patronising interpretations, Abril realised, were far from new: misogynistic attitudes towards similar phenomena have been well-documented throughout history, dating back to medieval times. Symptoms were consistently trivialised, framed either as histrionic behaviour or even interpreted as signs of demonic possession, hormonal imbalance and witchcraft.

“An act of resistance against the traumas etched into women’s veins…”

Laia Abril, ANGER, Mind Series (Case 2, Cambodia, On Mass Hysteria), 2023, Courtesy Galerie Les filles du calvaire, Paris © Laia Abril

Society Pushing Women to Become Possessed Witches
Through her investigation, Abril came to understand that these collective acts of hysteria were, in fact, cries for help, forms of resistance against collective suffering and transgenerational trauma. She realised that most of the women and adolescents accused of mass hysteria belonged to the lower strata of society, where they faced systemic oppression whether in educational settings, exploitative labour conditions, or, more recently, online spaces. Identifying three recurring characteristics, Abril selected key case studies to shape the visual narrative of On Mass Hysteria. The first is the 2007 case in Chalco, Mexico, where a group of girls at a Catholic boarding school developed walking paralysis, likely triggered by oppressive religious doctrines and the imposition of Western educational models, with their internal crisis manifesting physically. A second, more extensive case study looks at the reports of alleged spirit possession among female workers in Cambodian factories between 2012 and 2022. Subjected to extreme conditions to satisfy Western consumer demands, these women endured relentless hours of labour in exploitative and dehumanising environments. The third example moves into the digital realm: at a high school in Le Roy, New York, students experienced an epidemic of twitching and tics. As they shared their symptoms on social media, they became easy targets for dismissive narratives that branded them as disingenuous or childish attention- seekers.

Processual and Research-Based Artworks
To give voice to these dismissed stories, Abril works with found materials and footage—an extensive amount of folders, one of which is labelled #65 in the exhibition—including floor plans, news images and photographic documentation. These form the backbone of her practice, amplifying voices that have long been silenced. Much of her research has been brought together in a publication titled On Mass Hysteria, released by Delpire & Co and Dewi Lewis. Abril’s work goes beyond recent history, delving deeper into the past and drawing stories of oppression from ancient pamphlets describing possessions in Ursuline convents, accounts of the Salem witch trials, and the perilous construction of a “normal mind”—a notion instilled through schools and perpetuated by newspapers, which often portrayed electroshock therapy as a modern and acceptable solution to an enduring human condition.

Bringing Light by Acknowledging the Darkness
Abril’s work, infused with a strong sense of justice, carves out a space for the countless disrespected women who endured such mistreatment. She not only addresses psychological oppression—imposed since the time of Charcot’s hysteria’s theories—but delves deeply into the dynamics and power structures inherent to our societies. A significant limitation of scholarly work on hysteria thus far has been its narrow focus: often offering a very partial form of liberation, tailored primarily for non-indigenous, Western, female-identifying subjects. In contrast, Abril’s research embraces a broader perspective, considering spiritual beliefs that tap into animism and psychosomatisation, extending beyond the scientifically dominant model. An act of resistance against the traumas etched into women’s veins, Abril’s On Mass Hysteria sets the exhibition space of LE BAL ablaze, erupting in flames that, like the birthday cake candles in MASS BIRTHDAY (2023) turning into black rays, summon a darkness that insists on being seen, acknowledged. Only through this confrontation can the long- suppressed pain finally begin to dissipate.

Laia Abril, MASS BIRTHDAY, Mind Series (Case 1, Mexico, On Mass Hysteria), 2023,Courtesy Galerie Les filles du calvaire, Paris © Laia Abril
Laia Abril, CASE PIECE #1 CHALCO, (Case 1, Mexico, On Mass Hysteria), 2023, Courtesy Galerie Les filles du calvaire, Paris © Laia Abril

On Mass Hysteria / Laia Abril

Credits:

Artist: Laia Abril / @laia_abril
Exhibition location: LE BAL, Paris / @le_bal
Words: Giulia Piceni / @giuliaapiceni
Editor: Maria Abramenko  / @mariabramenko
Junior Editor: Annalisa Fabbrucci / @annalisa_fabbrucci

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