Dropping In and Out is an interdisciplinary research project initiated and organised by Jessica Goodman, Vanessa Gravenor na Mathilde ter Heijne, that explores how different historical and geographical contexts shape the ways in which the artistic legacies of women* and non-binary people are conceived and experienced, and how we, as authors today, can help recover the works and impact of those who came before us. Aiming to address gaps in the genealogical narratives of feminist producers and foster reciprocal solidarity across time and space, the project will track the erasures of women artists’ biographies, and interrogate the significance of feminist perspectives in artistic production.

The research topics also address the challenges of historical continuity and recognition, whether for eighteenth-century figures under the Revolution, or contemporary feminist artists faced with career interruptions, exclusion from mainstream narratives, and institutional erasure. The question of how individuals shape their own remembrance—whether in literature or art—forms a strong thematic bridge between the different disciplines.

The act of imagining the future is inherently linked to how we interpret and rework the past. Dropping In and Out looks at feminist artistic practices that reclaim forgotten histories. We examine how these acts of imagination not only respond to historical exclusion but also create new possibilities for the future. The key concept of ‘falling in and out’ (of a career) offers a liberating lens when discussing gender politics, creative practices, and life paths. It challenges the dominant notion of an ‘uninterrupted creative life’, which is rooted in patriarchal, white, heteronormative ideals, and the idea of a ‘complete archive’—a structured, gapless, and fully preserved record—which reflects these same biases. Going forward, we want to make this critical stance more explicit: naming the forces that sustain these exclusions and foregrounding the significance of gaps, silences, and archival omissions. At the same time, we seek to explore reparative strategies—how lost voices, interrupted careers, and forgotten narratives can be reimagined and re-narrated.

The project connects participants from Oxford’s Humanities Division and the Ruskin School of Art with Berlin-based artists and lecturers at the University of the Arts Berlin and functions as a growing network, a blueprint for survival, that unfolds in different phases.

Participants
Oreet Ashery (Ruskin School of Art Oxford), Elleke Boehmer (St Catherine’s College, Oxford), Hanne Loreck (HFBK Hamburg), Jade de Montserrat (Ruskin School of Art Oxford), Heike Munder (non university member–curator), Katharina Koch&Sylvia Sadzinski (non university member–curators), Sonya Schönberger (non university member–artist), Katja Gretzinger (non university member–graphic designer), Amy Patton (non university member–editorial support)

Institutional partners
alpha nova & galerie futura Berlin, Oxford’s Humanities Division, St Catherine’s College, Ruskin School of Art Oxford, art&dialogue Berlin