Bathers, Albania No.8, January 1996

1996
Meredith-Vula, Lala
These photographs are from a series taken between 1994 and 1997. The series depicts several women bathing, set in one of the last remaining bath houses in a remote town on the Albanian-Montenegrin border. The women photographed depict the stark way in which this public bath house has changed; once a place for women of all social classes to engage, it is now only used by the very poor people without access to running water. Meredith Vula notes that 'the baths offer not only a practical means of keeping clean, but also a temporary refuge.' This bath house dates back to the 17th century and Meredith-Vula has said that the space and the occupation of the space reminded her of classic Degas and Bonnard's paintings of women in the bath and Cezanne's bathers. Reinterpreting this classical theme of women bathing, this series displays the female form, fragmented by water in a natural setting and using this to focus on the hidden language between women as they bathe together. Meredith-Vula has said: 'In my research I stumbled into a hidden dream world of calm and purity, a safe place of mysterious beauty. These photographs are dedicated to the hope and beauty which I found amongst these women.' Steven Burridge
  • Artwork Details: 138 x 102cm
  • Edition: no.6/10
  • Material description: black and white photograph
  • Credit line: © Lala Meredith-Vula
  • Theme: Figurative
  • Medium: Photograph
  • Accession number: ACC6/1999

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