Care and Connection

In these strange times we now find ourselves in (*waves from Bolton, currently topping the Covid charts with Local Lockdown and the Corona Confusion), care and connection seem more important than ever. Communal washing was a common practice in the UK during in the 19th century, and continued within living memory in this mill town - Humphrey Spender's images of washday in Bolton from the 1930's show terraced streets repurposed for drying and I'm told everyone took for granted that on a certain day of the week you'd simply have to find another way home.

The history of communal washing goes way back; from river washing (still seen in many parts of the world today) to the community washday; "Towns had an area of mown grass set aside as a bleaching ground, or drying green, where household linens and clothing could be spread on grass in the daylight. Early settlers in America established communal bleaching areas like those in European towns and villages. Both washing and drying were often public and/or group activities. In warmer parts of Europe some cities provided communal laundry spaces with a water supply." (The History of Laundry). Above and beyond functional necessity, this practice surely had its social benefits - the chance to meet, talk, share and ultimately strengthen social bonds.

I've been inspired this week by Katerina Seda's 2003 project' There's Nothing There', in which she asked all the people in a small town in the Czech Republic to carry out everyday tasks at the same time for one day. From Wikipedia: "The people of the town went to the grocery store, ate meals, and watched evening TV with their families all at the same time for a day. This project highlighted the similarities between people and how we might not realise how much of our lives intersect with others." I remember, what feels like a lifetime ago, pacing the floor with a screaming newborn baby in the wee hours of the morning and taking great comfort from the lights I could see in the windows of the town. There were, I knew, other people in the world doing exactly what I was doing at that moment.

All of this relates back to the laundrette and its potential as a space for connection, to share and elevate an experience that could otherwise be dismissed as time lost to domestic drudgery. This is starting to formulate into a plan which I'm hoping will be ready to share with you in the next few days so don't go anywhere (I literally can't go anywhere, so please keep me company!).