The Oshima Gang
9 February—13 April
Presented in association with Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival 2025
‘The Oshima Gang’ comprises a series of photographs of sites in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland featured in Nagisa Oshima’s film ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence’ (1983), including King’s College, the Domain Wintergardens, Mount Eden Prison and the historic Auckland Railway Station.
Through this work, Macdonald reflects upon Auckland’s urban landscape and identity while raising some related questions: “Oshima, and his cast and crew, did not set out to describe Auckland, yet they did so nonetheless: the irrelevance of Auckland makes the film a compelling portrait of this city. […] How did Oshima look at the city I live in, and how did the city look back at him? Can ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence’ be considered a ‘landscape theory’ film, if only for New Zealand viewers?”
Featured image: Glasshouse, Auckland Domain Wintergardens
