The Tea Towel

The dishwasher has diminished the good old tea towel’s practical significance for everyday life dramatically. Nevertheless, tea towels remain present in many households—handwoven or industrially produced, lint-free or absorbent, dirty or clean, inherited or disposable. In the odd kitchen, special attention is required as there are separate towels for hands and the dishes.

For a long time, designated kitchen towels were something for upper-class households only. Industrial mass production has changed that, and today they have a dual nature: they are on display at museum shops and concept stores as upmarket design objects and available as standardized cheap goods in supermarkets and department stores.

In The Tea Towel: Perspectives on an Everyday Item, thirteen authors, artists, and designers explore the object from journalistic, artistic, scientific, socio-political and technical perspectives. Their contributions complement each other and reveal hidden relations. Through texts and images, the volume invites a rediscovery of this commonplace item, something sensual associated with many socially relevant topics.