In the Making: On ‘Her Noise’ and the (Im)Possibility of an Art ArchiveLina Džuverović and Althea Greenan

Emma Hedditch, We're Alive, Let's Meet!, Her Noise, South London Gallery, 2005. Courtesy of South London Gallery

We welcome Lina Džuverović, co-curator of the exhibition, Her Noise, first presented at South London Gallery in 2005 and co-curated with Anne Hilde Neset, to discuss its making and the archive that emerged from it as an evolving resource for research into gender and sound.

Now housed at the University of the Arts London (UAL), the Her Noise Archive brings together books, fanzines, records, CDs, exhibition catalogue, and video interviews, documenting the work of artists including Pauline Oliveros, Jim O’Rourke, and Kim Gordon, among others. Acquired by UAL through CRiSAP in 2010, it has become one of the most searched collections at UAL’s Archives and Special Collections Centre, supporting researchers, curators and students while opening up new possibilities for research and interpretation.

As part of the public programme accompanying a cut became an opening, Džuverović will reflect on the curatorial thinking behind Her Noise and the development of its archive, considering how an exhibition might function not as a conclusion, but as an evolving framework for further enquiries. She will then be joined by Althea Greenan, Curator of The Women’s Art Library at Goldsmiths, for a conversation moderated by Jiaying Kou, Programmes and Publications Lead.

Together, they will consider what it means to build an archive around an exhibition, a sound, or a fragment of history; how archives might remain active and open to reinterpretation; and what is at stake in preserving, organising, and listening to histories that remain partial. Drawing on their respective experiences of working with artists’ practices, exhibitions, ephemerals, and archival collections, the conversation will explore how archives shape the ways we encounter, listen, interpret, and make histories.

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Her Noise Archive documents the making and legacy of Her Noise, an exhibition presented at South London Gallery in London in 2005, with accompanying events at venues including Tate Modern and the Goethe-Institut. Curated by Lina Dzuverovic and Anne Hilde Neset, the project explored the relationship between gender and music histories, bringing together a wide network of women artists working with sound. Originally conceived by artist Emma Hedditch as an artwork within the exhibition, the archive has since expanded to encompass not only the exhibition’s research and artistic materials, but also its curatorial process, administration, documentation, press and publicity. Acquired by the University of the Arts London (UAL) through CRiSAP in 2010, the collection is now searchable through UAL’s Archives and Special Collections online catalogue. It has become one of the Centre’s most frequently searched collections, attracting researchers across sound art, music, exhibition studies, curatorial practice and feminist and gender studies.

The Women's Art Library (WAL) began as the Women Artists Slide Library in 1982, later becoming an educational resource and publishing a magazine from 1983 to 2002. WAL collected slides, ephemera and other art documentation from artists and actively recorded exhibitions and historical collections to offer a public space to research and experience women's art. As part of Goldsmiths Library Special Collections and Archives, WAL continues to collect slides, artist publications, exhibition ephemera, catalogues, laminated exhibitions and press material in addition to audio and videotapes, photographs and digital media. The collection also includes materials from artist groups and is being developed to support a varied programme that facilitates teaching, new research and art projects, notably through the Women’s Art Library/Feminist Review Art in the Archive Bursary.

a cut became an opening is on view until 11 December 2026
Tuesday – Friday, 11am–6pm
Saturday, 12–5pm