Workers' Wives
Body of Work
Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 April, 2026, 2pm to 4pm
White Bay Power Station - Upper Turbine Hall
In this site-specific piece by artist collective Body of Work, cis-female, trans and nonbinary performers enact domestic-inspired gestures and tasks to generate power. Feminised care through housework is recast as material that charges up the space. Making visible the labour of the White Bay Power Station’s employees’ wives, the collective's devotional endurance draws attention to ongoing permutations of gender inequality in so-called Australia, while reauthoring the legacy of the White Bay Power Station through a queer feminist lens. 2026 marks 60 years since the NSW marriage bar was abolished, a policy that prohibited married women from working in public service. The performance also calls attention to the sustained presence of queer bodies in the space, challenging their historical erasure.
The collective feel into the time we are in, their individual histories of inherited power/s, and how they meet as a group alongside the memories in the space. They pay their respects to Country and its power; the truth and reckoning in the world as we witness and experience it; and what is possible when we offer our bodies time to unravel, yield, focus, and transform together.
Credits
Performers: Charlotte Farrell & Emma Maye Gibson (Body of Work) with Megan Holloway, Imbar 'imbi' Nassi, TESH
Design & Fabrication of 'Bike Sign': Benjamin Paul & Tim Gibson
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Accessibility
- The work encourages a relaxed and responsive audience environment, audiences are welcome to move, enter and exit as needed.
- Single chairs available on request.
- Low soundscape and lighting throughout.
If you require access support, please speak with the Council officer on site.
