History of the Present is a new experimental opera-film forefronting 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 and SD video in the streets of Belfast, 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.
Written and co-directed by Maria Fusco, who grew up beside a peaceline in Belfast during The Troubles, the work is a collaboration with artist filmmaker Margaret Salmon and composer Annea Lockwood, libretto by Maria Fusco and improvisational vocal work by Héloïse Werner, premiering with the 25th anniversary of The Good Friday Agreement.
