Anthology Synopsis
Lavandería - A Mixed Load of Women, Wash, and Word
Lavandería is an anthology of written/spoken word and photography. It highlights the universal ritual and common interaction of people, places and things found between loads of laundry. Celebrating the task often deemed “women’s work,” this unique collection of voices honors the unsung history of washer women, touching on everything from labor strikes and scrub boards to present day love affairs rinsed away in the automatic double loader.
Lavandería is divided into chapters including “Rocks and Rivers,” “Rip Tides,” “Iron Maidens,” “Rub-A-Dub,” “Hose Stroll,” “Dirty Deeds,” “Loose Threads” and “Lost & Found.” Each reflects themes from the beginning history of laundry, the global violation of female bodies, from relationships to civil wars, and the strength and resiliency of women under who survive systematic violence and oppression, and love’s lackluster and enduring strength in the face of domesticity.
The original Lavandería is wedged in the middle of the anthology. Fictionalized laundresses Vanda, Lilah, Dessa and Jasmine have lively and frank conversations touching on themes that appear in the surrounding chapters. As they sort, hand-wash, hang and fold laundry, their dialogue moves through history, poverty, spoken word and hip hop culture, genocide, abandonment, suicide, and finally healing and transcendence. As they share stories, they find they’re not alone in their struggle to survive the madness; they laugh, cry, and find solidarity in life’s chaos. Photo sequences of laundry scenes project behind them on a sheet strung between a palm tree and a brick wall—the “rock and hard place” metaphor of their evolving lives.
Lavandería provides a unique look into an otherwise ordinary chore by giving it voice and visual representation and serves as a reminder that incredible strength and enduring spirit can reside in the most routine spaces.
Lavandería - A Mixed Load of Women, Wash, and Word
Lavandería is an anthology of written/spoken word and photography. It highlights the universal ritual and common interaction of people, places and things found between loads of laundry. Celebrating the task often deemed “women’s work,” this unique collection of voices honors the unsung history of washer women, touching on everything from labor strikes and scrub boards to present day love affairs rinsed away in the automatic double loader.
Lavandería is divided into chapters including “Rocks and Rivers,” “Rip Tides,” “Iron Maidens,” “Rub-A-Dub,” “Hose Stroll,” “Dirty Deeds,” “Loose Threads” and “Lost & Found.” Each reflects themes from the beginning history of laundry, the global violation of female bodies, from relationships to civil wars, and the strength and resiliency of women under who survive systematic violence and oppression, and love’s lackluster and enduring strength in the face of domesticity.
The original Lavandería is wedged in the middle of the anthology. Fictionalized laundresses Vanda, Lilah, Dessa and Jasmine have lively and frank conversations touching on themes that appear in the surrounding chapters. As they sort, hand-wash, hang and fold laundry, their dialogue moves through history, poverty, spoken word and hip hop culture, genocide, abandonment, suicide, and finally healing and transcendence. As they share stories, they find they’re not alone in their struggle to survive the madness; they laugh, cry, and find solidarity in life’s chaos. Photo sequences of laundry scenes project behind them on a sheet strung between a palm tree and a brick wall—the “rock and hard place” metaphor of their evolving lives.
Lavandería provides a unique look into an otherwise ordinary chore by giving it voice and visual representation and serves as a reminder that incredible strength and enduring spirit can reside in the most routine spaces.