This is a past exhibition.

To open the 2023 Festival, EAF presented the world premiere performance screening of History of the Present, co-directed by Maria Fusco and Margaret Salmon. The opera-film featured live improvisation from percussionist Angela Wai Nok Hui, with new music by Annea Lockwood and vocal work by Héloïse Werner.

The experimental opera-film 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, amplifying marginalised stories.

The film was written and co-directed by Maria Fusco, who grew up beside a peace-line in Belfast during The Troubles, the work commemorates the 25th anniversary of The Good Friday Agreement.

Alongside this premiere, EAF co-hosted Salon One: Maria Fusco, Margaret Salmon & Kim McAleese, alongside the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Part of the Sunday Salon series bringing artists together to discuss literature, film, and art, the discussion also shared Fusco’s essay collection, Who Does Not Envy With Us is Against Us, and Salmon’s new book, Cinematographs.

This performance was supported by the Scottish Government’s Festivals EXPO Fund and EventScotland, as well as British Council, Creative Scotland, the Royal Opera House with support from Abbey Theatre/Amharclann na Mainistreach. History of the Present’s creative partner for this event was Scottish Opera, as well as Belfast International Arts Festival, Glasgow Women’s Library, The Global Women’s Narrative Project and The MAC.