Feminist Practices of Citation in Art and Research

Helena Reckitt examines the citational practices of contemporary, intersectional feminist artists, writers, and readers. She considers how citation can function as a means of homage and tribute, reparation, and activism. Through creative acts of recitation and circulation, artists and collectives such as Maja Bekan, Claire Fontaine, and Mai Ling map their artistic and political lineages. Within long-term artistic and curatorial projects including Read In (Utrecht), Mundos Habitables (Lima), and the Feminist Duration Reading Group (London), the collective reading of overlooked texts challenges established citational habits. Reckitt highlights citation as a tool for questioning entrenched canons while also addressing current critiques of citational methods. The lecture connects to Moyra Davey’s sustained engagement with the work of other writers and artists, whose practices she cites and references in her own work. In doing so, Davey articulates her appreciation for both iconic figures and younger voices in contemporary art. Her video work Forks & Spoons (2024), presented at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, for example, foregrounds reflections on the representation of ageing and female-coded bodies through her engagement with five photographers from different generations.