Washing Rituals

“Washing Rituals – Waschfrauen zwischen Care und Resistance” is an artistic project by Winnie Luzie Burz and Katarina Strasser, created as part of a residency grant from E-Werk Freiburg, funded by the Fonds Darstellende Künste. The starting point is the history of the washerwomen, whose physical and communal labor shaped public life for centuries. At the heart of the residency project is the creation of a large-scale textile that serves as a symbolic visual and projection surface for women’s labor. We experiment with abstract forms, ornamentation, and symbols. The fabric serves as an artistic archive and a medium for an alternative historiography. The concluding performance on the Dreisam River brings these questions into the public sphere. The river does not appear merely as a backdrop, but as a former workplace that is temporarily reclaimed. The audience participates in the washing process and becomes part of a collective action in which care work is not merely depicted but carried out together. Accompanying the residency, a choir composed of people with their own care responsibilities is being formed. Historical workers’ songs meet free vocal improvisation and the rhythms of physical labor. At the same time, an experimental video work is being created that takes up motifs such as water, fabric, and voice, transforming the performance into an installation that will be shown in the foyer of the E-Werk for several months following the performance.

When: September 26, 2026, at dusk

Where: Dreisam, near the E-Werk

Meeting point: 6:00 p.m., E-WERK foyer

www.winnieluzieburz.de

www.cargocollective.com/katarinastrasser