The Washerwomen´s Walk  - a stroll into history

Reykjavík Museum of Photography

Start Art Gallery organises this event which is on the programme of Reykjavík Arts Festival 2009. The photos in the exhibition are all from the Reykjavík Museum of Photography´s collection.

The walk takes about 30-40 minutes and should be easy for everyone from 8-80 years old. It starts at the outdoor chess set at Lækjartorg square at 13:00 and ends by the old Washing Springs where the performance installation will commence alongside coffee drinking and drum beats until ca. 15:00. 


Participants will take a cloth or piece of laundry (can be  obtained at the outdoor chess set), which they wil carry in a symbolic way in a continous line up the street of Laugavegur. Parallel to the walk, 37 visual artists will guard its route with their works and art students will please eyes and ears. Also, choirs will sing and brass bands will sound and the cleaning woman of the world will make her mark on the event. In Laugardalur, the Nýlóchoir will do a performance together with the Weird Girls and washing Reykjavík residents. 

There, the unique band _Parabólur_ will beat the drums and Karl Ágúst Úlfsson will lead a circle of drums, accordions and stones will be played and a lot more will be going on on this great washing day. Hopefully as many as possible will be able to attend in order to honour the memory of the washing women, which are the reason why Laugavegur came into existance. It  is very important that the knowledge of its origin is kept alive in the cultural consciousness of the people of the city of Reykjavík, young and old.


The project is organised by 6 artists who run the gallery  START ART  Laugavegur 12b, 101 Reykjavík.        


The Wash­er­wo­men´s Walk - a stroll into his­tory

The exhibition "The Washerwomen´s Walk – a stroll into history" , which now is mounted in Skotið, is a part of the same titled event, which will take place on Saturday May 23rd, commemorating the Reykjavík women who washed their laundry in the hot springs of Laugardalur in times past.

The Washerwomen´s Walk - a stroll into history