Together with the Golden Thread Gallery, Maria Fusco and Margaret Salmon present History of the Present, an exhibition based around the critically acclaimed work of the same name, History of the Present (2023). This 46-minute experimental opera-film was made collaboratively by Fusco and Salmon, featuring new compositions by Annea Lockwood, libretto by Maria Fusco and improvisational vocal work by Héloïse Werner.

History of the Present is an intersectional, intergenerational feminist work which forefronts working-class women’s voices to ask: who has the right to speak, and in what way? Layering sociological, cultural, and political themes from the recent history of Northern Ireland, the work exercises voice, breath and field-recording composition through a range of film techniques and operatic articulations, to amplify marginalised stories.

Made on 35mm film and video on the streets of Belfast, in the Ulster Museum, and the Royal Opera House in London, History of the Present observes how defensive architecture defines movement to enforce intersectional histories and identities within daily experiences in conflict and post-conflict zones on an international level.

Maria Fusco, who is from Ardoyne, North Belfast, wrote the libretto and co-directed the film, says “It’s a very beautiful piece, sensitively and movingly shot by artist-filmmaker Margaret… We take our ethical, reparative way of making this work very seriously. The subject matter can be challenging, seeking to present the heightened emotional state of a post conflict city”.

Margaret Salmon, co-director, adds  “Early on, Maria and I discussed the archive and a history of images representing The Troubles and Belfast’s segregated communities. We both felt strongly that any film representations should be made in the present, in Belfast today, not in the past.”

History of the Present opera-film is presented in our Upper Gallery, while in our Lower Gallery we are showing a site-specific installation with additional artworks, resources and research materials by Fusco and Salmon, to bring the collaborative work to audiences in Northern Ireland for the first time.

The exhibition includes journal materials selected by Maria and Margaret from Golden Thread Gallery’s NIVARLA archive, and ex-display furniture from the building’s prior use as Craftworld.

The film is supported by the British Council, Creative Scotland and the Royal Opera House, developed with the assistance of the Abbey Theatre/ Amharclann na Mainistreach.

Maria Fusco (b. 1972) is an award-winning working-class writer, born and brought up in Ardoyne, North Belfast, now living in Scotland. Her interdisciplinary work spans the registers of critical, fiction and performance writing; she has authored six books, and written and directed four major performance works. Her work has been commissioned by bodies including: Artangel, BBC Radio 4, Film London and National Theatre Wales. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, was writer-in-residence at the Whitechapel Gallery and The Lisbon Architecture Triennale and an Engender Fellow at the Royal Opera House. She is currently Professor of Interdisciplinary Writing at the University of Dundee, previously holding academic posts at the University of Edinburgh and Goldsmiths, University of London. mariafusco.net

Margaret Salmon (b. 1975) is a New York born multidisciplinary artist living and working in Glasgow. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at institutions including Secession, (2023), DCA (2018/19), Tramway (2018) Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (2015); Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, USA (2011); Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2007) and Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (2007). Her work has been featured in film festivals and major international survey exhibitions, including the British Art Show 9 (2021/22), Glasgow International (2021), Berlin Biennale (2010) and Venice Biennale (2007) London Film Festival (2018, 2016, 2014). margaretsalmon.info

Annea Lockwood (b. 1939) is an acclaimed New Zealand-born American composer based in upstate New York. Her lifelong fascination with the visceral effects of sound in our environments and through our bodies—the way sounds unfold and their myriad “life spans”—serves as the focal point for works ranging from concert music to performance art to multimedia installations. She is the recipient of a SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award, and is elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her work has been presented internationally at institutions and festivals such as Lucerne Festival, Tectonics Athens Festival, Signale Graz, Counterflows International Festival of Music and Art, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and many others. annealockwood.com