CCA Project Space: A Bridge Between Times

The name "Birch Besom" has a tapestry of meanings, weaving together nature, language, and ritual. Its roots are richly layered. In colloquial Scottish, a "besom" is a cheeky girl or a woman with attitude. In old English, it was a ‘bundle of rods or twigs’—often birch—used as an instrument of punishment. More poetically, it signifies a tool for cleansing and purification, which connects to the birch tree itself, long seen as a symbol of renewal. Intriguingly for the artists, the Irish word ‘beirt’ (pronounced 'birch') means ‘two people,’ a fitting root for a collaborative duo. These threads converge in folklore and ritual; a broom made from birch twigs was traditionally used to sweep out the old year, symbolically clearing away evil spirits to invite goodness. The broom also carries a subversive edge through its association with witches and the mystical.

Emerging from a period of personal and collective grief and loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, the artist duo Birch Besom channels this history. Their work is a form of ritualistic performance, rooted in nature and focused on themes of transformation. With a strong conceptual foundation, they use the act of creation as a documented symbolic process, producing art that is both beautiful and unsettling—a means to sweep away the past and conjure new beginnings from the shadows.