Wagga Wagga City Council to mark International Women’s Day with diverse mix of events and talks

International Women’s Day will be celebrated with diverse program of activities presented by Wagga Wagga City Council.

Wagga Wagga City Library, the Museum of the Riverina and Wagga Wagga Art Gallery are holding a range of exhibition launches, talks and more on Friday 8 March and over the weekend.

Council will also celebrate its own inspiring women, with staff also able to attend screenings from the Hear Them Roar series by Women in Business Wagga and a talk by a guest speaker.

The library will be hosting award-winning writer Carly Findlay to launch her book Say Hello. The author lives with a rare skin condition and the book challenges your assumptions and beliefs about what it’s like to have a visible different appearance.

The talk has proved popular, with the International Women’s Day event already booked out.

Wagga Wagga City Council has also supported the local tour of Dolores at the Riverina Playhouse on this Saturday night at 9.30pm. The 45-minute one-act play is a partnership between sam. productions and White Ribbon Australia, and explores how two sisters deal with domestic abuse in different ways.

Tickets for Dolores can be purchased at civictheatre.com.au.

MUSEUM OF THE RIVERINA

The Museum of the Riverina will launch its new exhibition SHE, as well as hosting the All About Women livestream direct from the Opera House.

SHE is a three-in-one exhibition, celebrating women of Wagga Wagga through photographs, stories and recollections.

In Small Town Girl, photographer Elize Strydom documents the lives of teenage girls from small towns around the world.

Herstory profiles 50 significant women of Wagga Wagga’s past and present – from war heroes to a tow truck driver who became a member of parliament.

Evolution includes the portraits and stories of 32 women who nurtured the Wagga Women’s Health Centre from 1979 to 2019. The Women’s Health Centre is a story of not only helping local women, but the obstacles they had to overcome.

SHE will be launched on International Women’s Day at the Historic Council Chambers site at 6pm, with the exhibition open to the public from Saturday 9 March to 9 June.

On Sunday 10 March you can experience the main stage action of All About Women. The three headline sessions and Q&A will be livestreamed from Sydney to the Council Meeting Room from 1pm to 5.30pm.

For more information on both events or to make a book your spot, visit museumriverina.com.au.

WAGGA WAGGA ART GALLERY

To mark International Women’s Day, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery will be hosting a global exhibition launch.

The new and diverse exhibitions to be launched are Sarah McEwan: Feelings from Bodies, the National Contemporary Jewellery Award from Griffith Regional Gallery, Ruth Cummins: Tidying Down, Moving Histories // Future Projections, Daniel Crooks’ High Street (after Ruscha) and Glenda Mackay: Home, Land, Security.

The opening talks will start at 6.30pm on Friday 8 March, followed by a special performance facilitated by artist Sarah McEwan at 7pm.

McEwan will survey Mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga Councillor Greg Conkey OAM, artist Vicky Okot, activist Holly Conroy and other local participants.

The five-question survey will create an “installation conversation” to bring to life her exhibition, which was created from 50 anonymous surveys while McEwan had a residency at the Los Angeles at the Women’s Centre for Creative Work in 2018.

For more information, visit wagga.nsw.gov.au/gallery.