Dee has been filming in the Laundry room at Lansdowne Court again this week. We've loved meeting all the different people who use it and seeing community in action. Dee especially enjoyed interviewing a resident who says he couldn't live without the Somali ladies in the building, who he met in the Laundry room. They often help him with his washing when he's too tired to do it himself.
Our friend Sam was there too doing his weekly wash. He carefully folded an entire family's clothes from the dryer before putting in his own. It reminded us of the thoughtful way he reflected on the help he received from At The Well with his own laundry in lockdown during our interview:
"I don't believe that was a charity thing I think it was just... Love. Because we care. And if somebody cares then they're going to put that love and happiness into whatever they're doing" (he gestures to his laundry)
Dee was also reminded of her own reflections in a past blog on public and private dress as she watched Sam carefully fold someone else's Somali baati, a garment she has never worn beyond her own front door:
"Our traditional dress was at some point deemed inappropriate to wear in the West and confined to the private sphere where 2nd generation immigrant children like me considered them ethnic pyjamas rather than legitimate clothing to wear in public."
It's taken us a while to start making proper meaningful connections here and we're really grateful for every conversation we strike up. Building relationships of this kind can take time, especially when you're doing it from scratch in a close-knit community. So we're asking ourselves what happens when the art you're making needs a little bit more time and care, and how we can continue these relationships in tangible ways beyond our initial deadline of October. We want our work to contribute and respond to the community here. So we're hoping this initial output might be less a neatly wrapped up final artwork, and more the start of something deeper.
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