“And the one doesn’t stir...": on curatorial practice and the making of feminist histories

This essay charts a journey through a series of concentric circles. Like a pebble dropped into a still pool, the exhibition And the One Doesn’t Stir without the Other acted as a point of impact around which resonances between feminist art, activism, history and theory were amplified. It is not surprising that my journey takes the form of undulating waves rather than linear recounting, nor that its aftershocks connect differences rather than destroy them. One of the most significant legacies of feminism to epistemology has been the dismantling of the disembodied logic which underpins monolithic modes of historical narrative. The show’s curatorial sensitivity to the nuances of materiality, time and space enabled visitors to participate with the works in reconceiving the histories of feminist art/theory.