Beyer to open I Am Woman exhibition
A New Zealander who embodies the concept of ‘I Am Woman’ is coming to Stratford to open a significant exhibition at Stratford’s Percy Thomson Gallery.
Georgina Beyer will open the
I Am Woman exhibition which will showcase new works of 82 female artists with Taranaki connections. The exhibition will acknowledge 125 years of women’s suffrage in New Zealand and is being curated by gallery director Rhonda Bunyan.
“The artists have been asked to dig deep and identify parts of themselves that define what it means to be a woman.
“The brief is wide. Each woman has a unique view of her place in the world through her own personal journey. No two stories are the same.”
Featuring women artists from Taranaki as well as guest artists, the exhibition will be opened on December 14 by Georgina who will also give a gallery talk the following morning.
Georgina is the former MP for Wairarapa and the world’s first transsexual to be elected to government office. She was also the world’s first trans-gendered mayor after taking out the Carterton office in 1995.
Rhonda says Georgina is perfect for the role as she embodies the theme of the show. She says Georgina is a woman for the times, having claimed her identity, whether that was accepted by others or not. “She is a feisty women who makes no excuses for who she is. So often as women we make excuses for things that are happening in our lives and the decisions we make. We don’t really claim who we are all the time because of the pressures and expectations we face.”
The exhibition is being run with the help of funding from the TSB Community Trust and will feature the release of a new book by Stratford District councillor Gloria Webby, Celebrating Women of the Stratford District —
25 years of female Citizen Award Recipients, as well as paintings, pottery, fibre art, sculptures, photography and poetry.
■ Georgina will open the show’s opening night on Friday, December 14 and will give an informal talk at the gallery the next day at 11am. The exhibition runs until January 27.