November 1980

ON Gallery, Poznań

The action was performed as part of the Art of Women exhibition

Maria Pinińska-Bereś:

A space delineated by white posts connected by a thick washing line. In front, a label with the title, date, and name. Inside the fence stand two metal tubs with water. In one there is a metal washboard that I used years earlier to wash my child’s diapers. I enter the installation space in a long white dress, carrying an armful of cloths for washing. I tie a pink apron over my dress, roll up my sleeves, and begin to wash the cloths, precisely and methodically; then I throw them into the second tub to rinse, wring, and whisk off. I hang each washed cloth on the fence line. A pink letter has been painted on each cloth. Hanging them, I create the word, “Feminism.” Finally, I remove the ribbon from the apron and hoist the apron on a staff, turning it into a flag. This flag is secured in a stand, towering over the installation.