Members of Spiral have published and created a number of projects and works including, notably, the Spiral journal (seven issues published from 1976 to 1992), A Figurehead: A Face (1982) by Heather McPherson, The House of the Talking Cat (1983) by J.C. Sturm, the bone people (1984) by Keri Hulme (the first New Zealand novel to win the Booker Prize), numerous art exhibitions and documentary films.

Spiral was originally founded in 1975 in Christchurch by a group of women including Heather McPherson, Paulette Barr, Allie Eagle (also known as Alison Mitchell) and Kathryn Algie.

[11] Six more issues of Spiral followed between 1977 and 1992,[2] and contained poetry, essays, letters, paintings, drawings, photographs, short stories and other artworks.

The collection was published as part of an exhibition called "This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi-ā-Tahu", relating to McPherson and other colleagues at Mokopōpaki, an Auckland dealer gallery with Māori values at its centre.

[2][26][36][37] The event included the screening of 1980 interviews by McPherson and Sturm,[38] and was a project that formed part of the celebrations in New Zealand marking 125 years since women's suffrage.

[2] Francis McWhannell, reviewing for The Pantographic Punch, commented: "As the title suggests, the exhibition is raucous, celebratory, even as it acknowledges marginalisation, oppression, and violence.

"[39] In 2019 Mokopōpaki and Spiral co-published This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi-ā-Tahu, a substantial exhibition catalogue, described by magazine Art New Zealand as "a significant addition to this country's literary and artistic landscape".

The group was subsequently able to attend the second such fair in Oslo in 1986, with attendees including McPherson, Arapera Blank, Irihapeti Ramsden, Sturm, Patricia Grace, Stephanie Baxter and Marian Evans.

Participants included gay artist Galvan Macnamara, Irihapeti Ramsden, Allie Eagle and her mother Lorna Mitchell, and Wai Turoa Morgan.