The “Lavatoio Contumaciale” Cultural Information Center was conceived and founded in 1974 by the artist Tomaso Binga (pseudonym of Bianca Pucciarelli in Menna), in collaboration with her husband, art critic Filiberto Menna, and the founding members Sergio Bergami, Fabio Bucciano, Ugo Cianciullo, Costantino Dardi, Giovanna Davia, Aldo Falivena, Modestino Fusco, Giovanni Gazzara, Mauro Lucaferri, Achille Mango, and Lidia Pucciarelli, each of whom made a vital contribution to its establishment through their specific expertise.
In 1980, the Center was formally established as a women-led association, with members Pierina Bachini, Adriana Cian, Iole Cianciullo, Carla Consiglio, Maria Teresa Consolo, Goldi Petzenbaum, Bianca Pucciarelli, and Lidia Pucciarelli.
The Center, overseen by the Board of Directors represented by Grazia Menna and Fabrizio Marzilli, is located in Rome, at Piazza Perin del Vaga 4, in the Lungotevere Flaminio district, within a remarkable public housing building dating back to 1926. It occupies the premises of a former lavatoio contumaciale—a facility once used to disinfect and boil laundry from homes affected by infectious diseases—from which the association has symbolically and identitarily taken its name.
The interior, renovated in 1974 based on a design by architect Costantino Dardi, is divided into two rooms separated by a striking “wall/sculpture”, which inspired the association’s current logo.
In recent years, the historical headquarters in Piazza Perin del Vaga has been complemented by a second venue, the Menna/Binga Archive, also in Rome, located at Via dei Monti di Pietralata 16. This space offers larger facilities and is used to host broader events and initiatives.
Over the course of its fifty years of activity, the Lavatoio Contumaciale has become an important center for cultural exchange and engagement. Since its inception, it has promoted a wide-ranging program of events and debates on contemporary issues, literature, poetry, visual arts, theatre, cinema, and new media.
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