Yoko Ono's One-Off Morning-Inspired Art Event Is Coming to MCA

Early risers, yoga fiends and peaceful art lovers, this one's for you. Celebrating the MoMA exhibition Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971 and the 50th anniversary of Ono’s 1964 New York performance of Morning Piece, the MCA is presenting an early morning of free, peaceful fun. Kicking off at 9am on June 21 at the MCA, Yoko Ono Morning Peace 2015 is Sydney's instalment of the global event.

Reconnect with the early morning with a free mandala workshop on the lawn, outdoor drawing classes on the sculpture terrace, yoga workshops on the rooftop terrace and front lawn with lululemon athletica (June 21 also marks the United Nations’ inaugural World’s Yoga Day). The MCA will be open early from 9am, including the Light Show exhibition, and the MCA Cafe will also be open from 9am, with a special New-York themed breakfast menu (we're talking cronuts, Mimosas, bagels, Belvedere Bloody Marys).

So what are we actually celebrating this early in the morning? It's been 50 years since Ono's Morning Piece was first performed in Tokyo in 1964, a work she the presented again on her New York apartment roof in 1965. The work saw audiences gather at sunrise to meet Ono, who sold artworks with attached pieces of paper on glass, picking out a particular period of morning (e.g., “February 3, 1987 after sunrise,”). The Ono would encourage each 'owner' to look through the glass to the sky, with the knowledge they possessed a 'future morning'. Pretty lovely stuff.

So now we celebrate the original 'morning giving' ceremony across the globe, with the sun rising in different time zones. It's a peaceful art gathering of global proportions, organised by New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in partnership with Milan's Fondazione La Triennale di Milano, Moscow's Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, LA's J. Paul Getty Museum, Hong Kong's M+, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and the MCA — yep, gang's all here. If you can't make it to the MCA, you're encouraged to host your own Morning Peace event, according to the following instructions “On the solstice at sunrise / celebrate mornings of / past, future, and now./ Listen to the world./ Touch each other / when the sun comes up.” (Yoko Ono, spring 2015).

Yoko Ono Morning Peace 2015 at MCA is happening on June 21 from 9am. Entry is free, but bookings for the two 'Morning Interpretations' outdoor drawing classes (11am-11:45am and 12pm-12:45pm) are recommended. Check the website for session times (and BYO mat and wear plenty of layers if you're going to jump into a yoga session).

If you're still hung up on the whole Beatles break-up thing, give Yoko a chance with this little gem: