Dirt: The filthy reality of everyday life

Discussion 1 post |  Only members can post. Join?

About Dirt: The filthy reality of everyday life

Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life is an exhibition taking place at London's Wellcome Collection 24 March - 31 August 2011.

In this pool we want your pictures of everyday dirt: neglected corners, beautiful smears, dirt where it isn't wanted, and where it is (tips and rubbish dumps).

www.wellcomecollection.org/dirt

Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life will take a closer look at dirt, something which we are often reluctant to confront, and might prefer other people to deal with. As it opens, we are living in an unmistakeably filthy era. For the first time in human history over half the world’s inhabitants live in urban rather than rural environments, and exposure to dirt is an inevitable consequence of overcrowding and inadequate or non-existent sanitation.

Taking its lead from British anthropologist Mary Douglas's observation that dirt is defined by its context - as 'matter out of place' - the exhibition will introduce six different cities where the biological, sociological and philosophical implications of dirt are examined. What might different experiences of dirt and attitudes towards cleanliness tell us from the perspectives of the citizens of Delft in seventeenth century Holland; Victorian London; Glasgow in the 1860s; Dresden in the early twentieth century; New Delhi in the present day and Fresh Kills, New York’s largest municipal landfill in 2030.

Using these places as starting points for our investigation, the exhibition will bring together a range of materials including visual art, documentary photography, cultural ephemera, scientific artefacts, film and literature to consider a subject that poses significant threats to health in the twenty-first century, but which is also vital to our existence.