Honour & History

He tohu aroha

Ki TE WHAEA O MATARIKI

And for all women poets/all women

Who have flown up against a patriarchal wall

And been bruised or broken

Na koutou i tangi na tatou

Mihi mai

Mihi mai

Mihi mai

This Joyous, Chaotic Place is an exhibition that is difficult to interpret in the canon of traditional exhibition-making. In part, it is an exploration of the women's art movement in New Zealand, an archive of actions and objects that speak of a generation of feminist collectivism through the 1970s and ’80s, narrating their experiences and lives together in one space. Taking place at Mokopopaki Gallery, on Auckland’s Karangahape Road—a small, unusually shaped space with brown walls and a Salon des Refusés-style structure—it features an assemblage of ephemera and art objects sourced from private and public archives.

In part, this is a show about Heather McPherson: poet, lesbian feminist, activist. journal, Christchurch Women’s Art Environment, and the failed Matariki Tour (1981). Heather was the first out lesbian poet to be published in New Zealand, with her 1982 collection, , published by Spiral. That she was also behind the development of the Spiral imprint does not lessen this feat. Rather, it sends a clear message: if you won’t represent me and my community, we will represent ourselves. This is a message reflected throughout the exhibition in the tone of the work made, and the documentation of actions.