Senses of the past.

What if you could enter the historic wash house to travel back in time?

We envision an installation, that recreates the full sensory scape of the wash house in its most active times.

The smell of soap and moisture in the air. The sound of laundry being rubbed up against a wash board, voices chattering, interrupted by a gasp of exhaustion from the hard work.

The installation is not to romanticise the past, but to bring out the different aspects of life the site has witnessed over time. A space of coming together, social exchange, but also hard work.

A subtle yet powerful intervention of using smell and sound to recreate the scenery while the wash house itself remains mostly untouched. In the creation of the soundscape, a workshop with generations that have experienced the washing house active, as well as a research in historic sound archives is planned.

Upon finalisation the permanent installation should invite visitors in to get tangible insights of the history of washing and beyond, stimulate their imagination and raise questions to open a dialogue. Through the installation the intergenerational exchange of citizens of Differdange should be actively encouraged.

Estimated time: permanent

Estimated cost: 10200

Lilo Ming Kiefer
16/09/2021

Re Interprete a historic wash house

Clean clothes are an important asset of a modern society. While today thousands of washing machines do their job spread all over town, once the act of washing clothes was an important public event. Mainly women gathered in washing houses even up to the seventies of the last century to wash the clothes for their families – and of course to chat about the latest news in town. The person of the “wash woman” is so archaic that she still lives in our memories and in childrens songs although the chatting today takes more and more place in the digital...

Related Space

Beim Waschbuer

Macbyver

Contact

pbagrfg@qvsszvk.yh
B.P. 12 L-4501 Differdange

DIFFMIX is a project co-financed by the Esch2022 European Capital of Culture and the City of Differdange with the creation of artistic interventions in the public space transforming them to community spaces with the participation of the residents. “Diff” is for “difference” and for “diffussion” of space, art and people and “Mix” is for the mixture of the needs of the inhabitants with the possibilities of art creations.

ESCH22 with the motto “Remix Yourself” offers a space of freedom and recreation that encourages us to bring new perspectives to our lives in order to strengthen this sense of common identity and trust and thus create a legacy of which we can be proud. Esch2022 encourages cultural diversity to foster personal growth. Inspire others and let others inspire you.

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