Kitchen Sink

John Bratby, The Toilet 1955

Kitchen Sink realism describes a British cultural movement that developed in the late 50s and early 60s in theatre, art, novels, films and television.

Before the 1950s, the cultural side of the UK’s working class was often portrayed in situations like drawing room plays (scenes set in the drawing room of a house) . Drawing room plays were developed in the Victorian period as a source of guest entertainment. They had always been  a highlighted point for social criticism and through the ages, came to be considered as the opposite of a ‘well-made play’.

The works of the Kitchen Sink were created so as to change these opinions that society held at that time.

The Britain of today is still in many ways a society defined by class, but back in the 50s, divisions were far harsher and rigid.

The term in itself in the UK derived from an English expressionist painting done by John Bratby (1928-1992) which contained an image of a kitchen sink.

Social Realism became the kitchen sink style.

Social Realism as an artistic movement depicted both social and racial injustice, economic hardship and life struggles in general. The artists illustrated the domestic situations of working class Britons. They spent their off-hours drinking in pubs so as to explore social issues and political controversies.

Kitchen Sink painters celebrated the everyday life of ordinary people.  They focussed their work deliberately on the unglamorous, everyday objects and scenes based on industrial and working-class themes.  Commonplace subject matter became centre of attention to emphasise the rooted ideas that the artists held. Daily life was portrayed through cluttered kitchens, kitchen utensils,  furniture.

The movement choose to celebrate what was banal in the lives of ordinary people as an attempt to make art more relevant and accessible and at the same time, make a clear social statement.

As well as the artistic movement, British cinema and drama also started to take a look at the direct conflict between working-class and middle class society. New wave films were created, and the sources that inspired them gave voice to a working-class that for the first time, was gaining some economic power.

The lives of working-class and middle class characters became the centre of attention in every day dramas, many of which are still the highlight of British television today, soaps like Eastenders and Coronation Street.

And so this is why us British are such huge fans of our long beloved soaps!

Check out more here http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/445176/index.html