Intersectional Feminism in Dunedin Exhibition Text
Intersectional Feminism in Dunedin
‘Intersectional Feminism in Dunedin’ is a two-week long travelling
exhibition and publication to commemorate the 125th anniversary of
suffrage in New Zealand. The publication examines the story of suffrage in this
city and tracks the subsequent history of feminism in Dunedin from 1893 to
today and the exhibition relates to artists’ lived experiences in this city.
The project adopts intersectional feminism as its framework, taking into
account how issues of class, race, disability and sexuality intersect with
feminism and how this has been recognised in Dunedin, or not. We identify
intersectional feminism as the avant-garde of feminism today and the most progressive descendent of suffrage, as it includes and
recognises a diverse array of perspectives and experiences which feminism has
previously failed to take into account.
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Artist Julia
Young (with Megan Brady, both of Studio2 and the Margaret Freeman Gallery)
comments on issues of diversity and difference in her 2015 work The Meeting
of New Friends. The painting depicts an encounter between different
species, which is initially characterised by fear – before the characters come
to an understanding and acceptance of their difference through dialogue. The
scenario depicted acts as a metaphor for the ways in which individuals with
physical or intellectual disabilities may be approached with fear, stereotyping
or prejudice and how this may be resolved through adopting an open-mind and
practicing acceptance. In A Very Important Message (2015), Young
comments on the use of the term ‘retard’ as a moniker unacceptable to those in
the Dunedin community who experience physical and intellectual disabilities.
In the video work Waltz (2010), artist Sophie Black depicts the rural city of
Mataura and the nature and creeping obsolescence of rural life in wider
Dunedin. This work links to our interview with Alana Kelly in the publication,
who discusses the unique issues facing rural women in greater Dunedin, such as
a lack of access to essential services and stereotyped gender roles.
Emma
Chalmers’ series of watercolours in Around the Block on
Tenterhooks (2012) depicts pro-life protests, which have taken place
outside the Dunedin Hospital in recent years - as well as the pro-choice
counter protests to these initiated by the Dunedin Feminist Collective (now the
Dunedin Intersectional Feminist Discussion Group). These protests have a legacy
dating back to the 1970s when the Dunedin Collective for Woman lobbied for changes
to abortion laws in New Zealand and protested for these in Dunedin. An
interview with Jocelyn Harris, one of the founding members for the Dunedin
Collective for Woman, can be found in the publication.
Since operating as an artist in the Women’s Art
Movement in New Zealand in the 1970s, Janet
De Wagt has always wished to take into account a multiplicity of
perspectives relating to class, race and sexuality in her work. In Unravelling Ancestors - Mary Southerwood (2014), De Wagt has painted a portrait of her friend Mary
Southerwood, outlining the varying strands of Mary’s ethnic descent. Through so
doing, De Wagt honours and celebrates all facets of Mary’s background.
Simone
Montgomery provides a mana whenua women’s perspective in her
work Waipunarangi (2018). Waipunarangi is a star in Māori mythology
associated with rain, water and conservation. Through creating a garment for
Waipunarangi, Montgomery connects with and honours her own culture via the
process of making. Feminism as it has traditionally been practiced has been a
problematic term for Montgomery – the artist views Māori women’s position in
her culture pre-colonisation as equal to that of Māori men, an equality which
she sees as being reflected in Māori mythology and the influential female
presence embodied there. These issues are further discussed in our interview
with Vicki Lenihan and Donna Matahaere-Atariki in the publication.
Swaroopa
Unni’s photograph Illuminate
(2016) depicts her traditional Indian dance practice in Dunedin where she has
lived since 2010. This practice has been a means of the artist connecting with
and sharing her cultural heritage, in a city where she has sometimes
experienced herself as a foreigner given her status as an ethnic minority in
the Otago region.
In his work, Party Zone (2015-2016) Matthew Wightman explores toxic
masculinity through sampling the dialogue and imagery of pro-wrestling.
Inspired in part by his experiences of masculine culture while studying at
Otago University, Wightman’s work speaks to how men are a product of our
patriarchal culture, where aggression and domination exist along top of a deep
and often unresolved desire for closeness and connection.
In Sarah
Baird’s work All The Things Anyone
Has Ever Said To Me (2018) 150 digital posters are displayed one after
another in a mirror revealing misogynistic, racist and *phobic comments that
have been directed at people based in Dunedin. The accompanying drawings are in
response to Baird’s personal experiences of offensive comments while she was
working part-time in Dunedin. Such comments reveal the latent attitudes present
in our culture that lead to oppressive narratives and actions.
Marewa
Severne’s mixed media piece Wai
Rua (2018) represents a woman with her hair spread out, rather like a
mountain. The work depicts the artist’s journey from creation to where she
stands today in Otepoti (Dunedin) and the many challenges that faced her on her
way: being an emergency responder, mother, Kaiako, Tauira, a wife and a cancer
free wahine. Severne notes “the distinctiveness of mana wahine is such that it
enables Maori women to analyse and understand our place in the world on our own
terms. Ko Hine Titama koe, matawaia te whatu I te tirohanga atu (The eyes water
to behold the dawn maiden Hine Titama).” The paintings Etu (2018) and Lines on her
Chin (2018) sit alongside poems by Rachel Dibble. This collaboration came
about through a korero between the artists about wairua, their journeys as two
Taranaki women and their tamariki far away from their Turangawaewae - while
living alongside the Otepoti sea and landscape.
This Project is Proudly Supported by the Ministry for Women's Suffrage
125 Community Fund
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