Hair Pieces at Heide Museum of Modern Art

For as long as humans have walked the Earth, hair has been a compelling realm of meaning. Our hair says more about us than we may care to admit, holding and transmitting ideas about gender, mythology, status, power, psychology, the body and of course beauty.

Hair Pieces is a new exhibition at Heide opening on Saturday May 4. Featuring 38 artists from both Australia and overseas, it’s an exhibition that examines the importance of hair in relation to our notions of self, history and society. From painting and photography through to video, installation, sculpture and recorded live performance, Hair Pieces demonstrates the many ways artists have used hair to investigate themes of growth, empowerment and transformation.

Hair Pieces features recordings of major performance works from Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta, renowned artists and collaborators Marina Abramovic and Ulay, British Afro-Caribbean artist and educator Sonia Boyce, and Bahamian-born American artist Janine Antoni. Video works include Belgian artist Edith Dekyndt’s striking political artwork Indigenous Shadow, Bidjara/Chinese-Australian artist Christian Thompson’s nostalgic and evocative three-channel video installation Heat, and cross-disciplinary Wiradjuri artist SJ Norman’s Magna Mater, which documents 12 First Nations people who identify as men having their hair brushed 100 times a day.

Other international artists include American multidisciplinary artist Jim Dine, renowned Nigerian photographer JD ’Okhai Ojeikere and British-Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum. Australian artists include Polly Borland, Patricia Piccinini, Charlie Sofo and Debris Facility, Karla Dickens and many more. View the full line-up.

Heide is also hosting a series of talks which are free with gallery admission, in collaboration with the exhibition Hair Pieces. Hear from John Meade, Charlie Sofo and Debris Facility on July 13 and Louise Weaver and Peter Ellis and artist Georgia Banks on August 31.

Hair Pieces runs until Sunday October 6, 2024. Tickets are included in general admission.

Broadsheet is a proud media partner of Heide Museum of Modern Art.