With Washerwoman, the Weltmuseum Wien is presenting a work by interdisciplinary artist Shannon Alonzo (born 1988, St. Joseph, Trinidad and Tobago) in Austria for the first time. 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 (2018), Alonzo explores her personal history and combines artistic form, socio-cultural 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 topics such as neo-colonialism, global economies or identity and memory - with a special focus on artists from the so-called Global South.
The show can be seen from 16 May to 5 October 2025 at the Theseustempel in Vienna's Volksgarten. Admission is free.
Contact
Mag. Sarah Aistleitner
T +43 1 525 24 4025
sarah.aistleitner@khm.at
Tanja Stigler
T +43 1 525 24 4019
tanja.stigler@khm.at
