Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti return to the ICA for the 50th anniversary of the band's infamous Prostitution exhibition, with a conversation, signing and screening of a live performance.
Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti are returning to the ICA on Wednesday 18 October, fifty years to the day since Throbbing Gristle first made a name for themselves there. On 18 October 1976, the Kingston-born performers and visual artists staged their Prostitution exhibition at the ICA, and it went down like a bomb. Explicit photographs, drug paraphernalia, and a provocative live performance sparked a tabloid uproar; one Tory MP went as far as to call them 'wreckers of civilisation'. Half a century later, two of the band's founding members are heading back to the same venue to mark the anniversary.
It's a long day, and the ICA is open from midday. The main theatre will be playing the band's music throughout the afternoon, with fans encouraged to hang out, share stories, and pick up exclusive merch before meeting Carter and Tutti at a signing. The main event is a conversation between the two of them and writer Luke Turner, where they'll talk through the band's history and the fallout from that first exhibition.
There's also a screening of Throbbing Gristle - Live at Kezar Pavilion, which documents the group's final performance before they split in 1981. Between the talk and the film, it's a look at both ends of the band's life: the exhibition that set them off in 1976 and the show that brought them to a close five years later.
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The whole thing runs from 12:00 to 22:00 at the ICA, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH, near Charing Cross. Entry is free, though some of the specific events on the day are ticketed, so it's worth checking the ICA's listings if you're planning to stay for the talk and the screening.
