WHO knew that your washing line could be the inspiration for wonderful art?

A Reading woman has won funding to take her work on tour.

Mahlia Amatina, a conceptual artist, has been selected to receive funding from the Arts Council England to exhibit her ‘Around the World in 80 Washing Lines’ social art project at The Riverside Museum in Reading this September, before embarking on a tour that includes Oxford, Slough and London.

Amatina’s exhibit features 80 washing line images from 80 different countries and is based around humanity and the similarities between us as human beings.

Each piece is accompanied by a brief story about the person ‘behind’ the image to highlight international commonalities, such as the simple task of washing clothes. Her project was inspired by prayer flags that she had observed strung along the mountains of the Himalayas.

Last year, Amatina won funding from Reading’s Cultural and Educational Partnership for her participation in the ‘Art in Unusual Places’ initiative during the town’s Year of Culture Celebrations.

This enabled her to run cultural community workshops around laundry and to exhibit in Reading’s launderettes, as part of this project.

“I am absolutely thrilled to have won this funding and I’m looking forward to building on the great work I did last year in bringing art into launderettes. This will be a much bigger exhibition I’m excited that Reading will be first on the map to experience it!”, she said.

For more information about ‘Around the World in 80 Washing Lines’ and the launderette project, visit mahliaamatina.com

Named as a 2015 UK Trust Award finalist, Amatina has had her work displayed at The Hermitage Gallery in Amsterdam, Alliance Healthcare, the NHS, Art Scope Gallery, Reading Town Hall, Jelly Conversation Space, Watlington House Hall, as well as a variety of outdoor venues.