On 30 March 1914, there was a fire in the Aborren neighbourhood at Artellerigatan 1 in Gamlestan. Göteborgs Tvättanstalt Gloria burned almost to the ground. No laundry workers were injured or killed, but four horses used for transport died. Today, Gamlestan’s largest car park stands where the laundry once was, and the traces of the laundry workers hard work are not visible at first glance. In Åsa Dybwad Norman’s investigation of Gamlestan, scattered fragments of the laundry worker’s struggles are gathered together to revisit the days before the fire. Through archival work, material research and speculative historiography, the collective is resurrected in a performance to tell the story of why the laundry actually burned down.
Gloria Washes Again was a part of Fältstudier by Göteborgs Konsthall, where six artists were invited to investigate Gamlestan in Gothenburg and the ongoing transformation of the area, and its potential futures. During the autumn of 2025, the artists’ works were presented through a series of urban walks featuring performances and other events. The performance took place in the local gallery and studio Temporary Stabilisations run by artists Annie Johansson and Andreas Engman. 

What do we see when watching people make? What words can do justice to haptic and tacit knowledge and skills deployed by schooled and self-taught makers, at home, in the street, or in dedicated making environments? These questions informed “durational observation” workshops and a writing assignment in 2024-2025 at HDK-Valand, KHiO and Aalto university, in a transnational effort to develop a toolbox for looking at, and talking about, making. The essays and descriptions gathered in this publication pay tribute to craft students’ fine-tuned knowledge, and to the precision of their observation.

This project has been generously funded by Norwegian Crafts, Nordisk Kulturfond, Nordisk Kulturkontakt, Göteborgs Slöjdförening, Estrid Ericssons Stiftelse and ArtMonitor. 

A four by two-meter curtain in wool with appliqués in mixed textile materials that was shown in Norberg, Fagersta and Skinnskatteberg during the summer/autumn of 2023. The work highlights female coded bodies and experiences, which exist and have existed in Norberg and the surrounding area. The project is part of ASK, Arbetsfält för samtida konst, which is run by Konstfrämjandet Västmanland, Region Västmanland and several municipalities in the region.  All photos are from Tingshusparken in Norberg, where the curtain was first displayed.