The Changing Room

Around the dinner table, conversation is lively

with Oscar and Sophie Bannan

Saturday 29 March, 7-10pm

“Our queer joy is domestic joy. Our queerness is a state of radical intimacy with domesticity, communities, space.”

You are kindly invited to a dinner party hosted by sibling-artist duo Oscar and Sophie Bannan. Taking inspiration from their exhibition Chicken Poems, the artists encourage you to join them in celebrating the domestic space through a home-cooked meal. Envisioned as an extension of their collaborative project, this event offers a unique opportunity to gain intimate insight into the lives of the artists, contextualising their relationship as siblings and collaborators.

Spaces are limited, tickets are priced at $25 each. Suitable for ages 18 and over. Direct all enquiries to gusfishergallery@auckland.ac.nz

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Workshop

Shoebox tvs for kids

Saturday 12 April, 11am-12.30pm

Join us for this whānau-friendly craft workshop where we’ll be making shoebox televisions, inspired by the video displays in Having it all, all, all. Let your imagination run wild and create a short story to play on your own DIY television screen.

Please note that this workshop will take place at Aaiotanga Community Space at 22 Emily Place, just around the corner from the gallery.

All materials will be provided, but we invite you to bring a small cardboard box that you wish to repurpose. Suitable for all ages.

Register for free

Talk

CUT Piece: 60 years on

Saturday 26 April, 2-3pm

2025 marks 60 years since Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece was performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall. To celebrate, join us for a discussion as we explore this seminal work and its enduring legacy.

This panel discussion will be chaired by Caroline Vercoe, Associate Professor of Art History at Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland, who will be joined in conversation with artists Jo Bragg, Alice Canton and Nathan Joe.

All are welcome.

Film screening

IN JOY (1980)

with CIRCUIT Artist Moving Image

Saturday 10 May, 2-3pm

Celebrate the final day of Having it all, all, all with a film screening of Stephanie Beth’s IN JOY (1980), presented in association with CIRCUIT Artist Moving Image. Following the screening, join Beth in conversation with CIRCUIT Director Mark Williams and Gus Fisher Gallery Public Programmes & Engagement Officer Tara Parsons.

IN JOY follows facilitator Maggie Eyre as she leads a group of ten women in a five-day theatre workshop. As the film progresses, we see the workshop participants embrace the opportunity to explore the parameters of their own selves through “movement, fantasy, play and performance.” In the films’ opening Eyre states her aspiration for female empowerment – “I want women to become more autonomous… to take more control of their lives… to know that collective creativity is possible.” Throughout the film Eyre is a vibrant presence, encouraging the women to centre their own sense of self as they undertake a series of movement and voice exercises. In turn, this sometimes leads to emotional experiences for the workshop participants who are supported by their fellow group members.

Film duration: 28 minutes

Stephanie Beth is a film-maker based in Christchurch. In the mid-1970s she was amongst the first generation of fine arts students at Ilam School of Art to study film. Her first two films I want to be Joan (1977) and IN JOY (1980) are described as companion pieces, each seeking to portray the reality and potential of womens lives through a documentary lens.