Libby Bove
Libby Bove is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer. Her work is centred around ideas which reposition folk custom and magical practice back at the forefront of daily life. A central theme within her practice is Roadside Magic - where plant knowledge, ritual and mechanics work as one.
Libby holds a BA in Fine Art from Bath Spa University. Recent awards & exhibitions include, Henry Moore Foundation Artists Award (2025), New Contemporaries (2024), The Hari Art Prize (2024), The Kenneth Armitage Sculpture Prize (2024), Spike Island Studio Fellowship (2024) , The Museum of Roadside Magic (2024 - Ongoing)
Rituals of the Roadways' explores an imagined timeline where the deep connection between labour and ritual, once central to agricultural life, thrives in a contemporary world. Focusing on the concept of 'Roadside Magic' (the use of plant knowledge, magic, and ritual as essential elements in vehicle repair and maintenance) and drawing inspiration from the South West’s rich history of folk celebrations and customs, the work presents a variety of vehicular rituals and practitioners, reweaving celebration and magic back into the everyday.
We meet Bottlejacks and Roadwytches preparing charms for roadside rescue, Diesel Clappers busking for fuel at the pumps, and Cone Dancers bringing much needed good fortune on M.O.T. day.
Rituals of the Roadways is a moving image work, commissioned by The Box, Plymouth, for the 2024 B.F.I. reimagining the Archives Program. As well as being presented as a physical exhibition and monograph.
R.O.T.R. uses a combination of archival film and new imagery, and was shot in locations across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset - made possible by a cast of contributors.