Shannon Alonzo. Washerwoman

With Washerwoman, Weltmuseum Wien is presenting a work by interdisciplinary artist Shannon Alonzo (born 1988, St. Joseph, Trinidad and Tobago) for the first time in Austria. In her mixed-media sculpture, she explores the theme of women’s labour, which usually remains invisible. The life-size faceless figure made of resin, beeswax, clothes pegs and brown cotton represents an archetype of the working Caribbean woman.

With Washerwoman, the artist explores her personal history and emphasizes the silent power that lies in strenuous domestic work – such as washing clothes – which is traditionally associated with women. The work from 2018 is a tribute to generations of women whose contribution to our cultural heritage has so far received little visibility.

Alonzo impressively combines artistic form with socio-cultural and historical reflection. Her work encourages thinking about 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 focusing 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 installation can be viewed from 16 May to 5 October 2025 in the Theseus Temple in Vienna’s Volksgarten. Admission is free.