16.05.2025 – 05.10.2025
Washerwoman refers to the invisible labour of women, to the activity of washing textiles, which has been connoted as feminine both in the past and in the present. In particular, it is a tribute to the work of Caribbean women and their contribution to our cultural heritage.
With Washerwoman, the Weltmuseum Wien is presenting a work by interdisciplinary artist Shannon Alonzo for the first time in Austria. The mixed-media sculpture – a life-size faceless figure made of resin, beeswax, clothes pegs, brown cotton and a washing trough filled with water – refers to the activity of washing textiles, which has been connoted as feminine both in the past and in the present. The work is a tribute to generations of women whose contribution to our cultural heritage has so far received little visibility.
With Washerwoman, Alonzo explores her personal history and combines artistic form, sociocultural and historical reflection in this work. She encourages reflection on role models, collective memory and the invisible foundations of social structures. Washerwoman was curated by Hanin Hannouch (Weltmuseum Wien) and is the first edition of the new format WMW Contemporary, with which the Weltmuseum Wien is focussing on contemporary art, design and new media in order to negotiate themes such as neocolonialism, global economies or identity and memory – with a special focus on artists from the so-called Global South.
Shannon Alonzo. Washerwoman
16.05.2025 – 05.10.2025
Theseus Temple in the Vienna Volksgarten
www.weltmuseumwien.at
