AU LAVOIR – A Tribute to the Forgotten Washplaces

Manuela Hartel (Munich/DE) performance, video installation, set, voice & lyrics
Jesus Aured (Bayonne/FR) experimental accordeon

Au Lavoir

Presented as part of the european Terre et Temps | Erde und Zeit arts and culture festival in the park of Château d’Orion in Béarn des Gaves, German media artist Manuela Hartel turns her attention with sensitivity and nuance to a frequently overlooked aspect of regional heritage: the lavoirs—historic communal washhouses. Once vibrant meeting places where women engaged in an intimate yet essential daily task, these spaces now stand as quiet witnesses to a nearly forgotten tradition, fading in the shadow of modern society.

Forgotten Spaces

In the woods of Château d’Orion, remnants of such a lavoir, once used by the Labbé family, still remain. Hartel brings this site to life through her transdisciplinary installation AU LAVOIR, merging video, light, and sound into an evocative experience. Set within nature, the performance opens a contemplative space to reflect on the resilience and quiet strength of the women whose personal stories have long remained on the margins of cultural history—yet are here brought to the foreground with dignity and poetic clarity.

In Collaboration

The projections, accompanied by the experimental accordion music of renowned French musician Jesus Aured, transform the space into a fleeting world of light and shadow. With a finely attuned sense for place and presence, Hartel questions the transience of traditions and spaces, inviting viewers into a moment of quiet awareness.

AU LAVOIR is a visually powerful work that seamlessly weaves past and present into a shared, immersive experience.

The art festival Terre et Temps was organized by pilotraum01 e.V. and curated by Serafine Lindemann, artcircolo.