The Laundry Collective

The Laundry Collective is a group of women who have come together with the aim of challenging stereotypes and prejudices about homeless people. Through texts, drawings, films, and live actions, they draw attention to the reality of social exclusion and the feeling of not belonging in public spaces, which should, in principle, be accessible to everyone. They draw on their personal experiences with life on the streets and their knowledge of the systemic barriers that prevent people from living with dignity.

Since 2023 the collective has been operating a mobile laundry during the summer months, offering people who don’t have access to sanitary facilities the opportunity to wash and dry their clothes. Here laundering is not a charitable service but rather a way to foster relationships and provide a temporary safe environment and space to meet.

The Laundry Collective was founded in 2019 during a three-month residency for women in need (called Magdalena’s Laundry) at the Prague gallery INI Prostor. Today the collective consists of Balu, Helena, Linda, Monika, Daša, Magdalena, and the dog Aranka. In 2022 the collective presented a participatory installation at the Prague City Gallery as part of the Biennale Matter of Art. Their film Expressing the Desire for the Impossible won first prize at the 2023 Marienbad Film Festival. The Laundry Collective has presented its work at institutions such as the Municipal Gallery Litomyšl (2025), the Kyiv Biennial in Vienna (2023), the festival 4+4 Days in Motion in Prague (2021), and Kunsthal Gent (2020), among others. In 2025 the collective published an original book titled Píčou ke zdi (Cunt Against the Wall), and they have long been collaborating with the contemporary art initiative tranzit.cz.