War Is Over! (If You Want It) With Yoko Ono
July 2013
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) presents the first major survey in Australia of legendary artist, musician and activist Yoko Ono.
You may recognise the title that Yoko Ono has chosen, War Is Over (If You Want), a text work by Ono and her husband, John Lennon (The Beatles) that appeared in 1969 across public billboards in twelve cities worldwide, including New York and London.
The exhibition, held in Sydney, encompasses the last five decades of practice in diverse media including eight participatory works.
The themes will include loss, conflict, humanity and the desire for world peace; subjects that Ono and Lennon were extremely passionate about and received extensive press coverage when they publicly promoted world peace.
The couple used their wedding day on March 20, 1969 as a means to stage a two day bed-in for peace, where they stayed in the hotel’s presidential suite and invited media into the room to talk about world peace. The couple’s interviews were reported in newspapers, radio, television, and newsreels worldwide.
Yoko Ono has expressed her excitement to spread the word of peace in Australia with her exhibition in Sydney.
“I am very excited and honoured to have my first solo exhibition in Sydney. It is an incredible new show I’ve developed just for you. There are many fantastic installations and participation works from different times. Think peace, act peace, spread peace Sydney. I love you”
This major exhibition, presented in the Level 3 Galleries, is part of the Sydney International Art Series, bringing the world’s most outstanding exhibitions to Australia.
As part of Ono’s visit to Sydney for the opening, Sydney Opera House and the MCA present In Conversation with Yoko Ono: War Is Over! (if you want it) at the Sydney Opera House, where the artist will speak with MCA Chief Curator, Rachel Kent.
This event is a rare opportunity to hear from this important international thinker as she discusses her art, life, music, and activism. True to form, audiences can expect the unexpected.
War Is Over (If You Want It) – Yoko Ono dates are 15 November 2013 – 23 February 2014
Tickets on sale from 26 July at sydneyoperahouse.com
10% discount on joint MCA exhibition and Sydney Opera House A Reserve in conversation ticket, via sydneyoperahouse.com
Images:
1. Hero image – Photography by Matthu Placek
2. John Lennon / Yoko Ono – Bed Peace 1969
3. Installation View with Yoko Ono, “Between The Sky and My Head” – Photo by Stephan Crasneanscki
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