Studies for a Keepsake: Claude Cahun & Marcel Moore w/ Lisa Beauchamp: 29th May, 2026

Studies for a Keepsake is a new exhibition at Gus Fisher Gallery. Tracing the lives and work of pioneering French artists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, the exhibition is the first time these artists have been shown in Aotearoa.

Working in writing, photography, collage, performance, and sculpture, and associated with the Surrealist movement in the 20th century, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore were visionary artists, activists, collaborators and lifelong partners. As gender non-conforming artists, they defied the social norms of the time. For Cahun and Moore, their art was a form of resistance against the context they were living in, defined by warfare, uncertainty, exile, genocide, and fascist political agendas, and the social norms that followed. 

Their work was virtually forgotten until its rediscovery in the 1990s, paralleling the rise of postmodern feminism, as part of this expansion of understanding of identity politics – acknowledging gender as performative rather than fixed, and refusing essentialist feminism. Showing their work in Aotearoa today, Cahun and Moore’s legacy lives on through their powerful art making and stories of resistance that continue to resonate with viewers a century later. 

Sof had a kōrero with curator Lisa Beauchamp about the exhibition, and the lives and work of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. 

You can check out the full events programme here.