Ashley hand towel

This hand towel, created by Wellington embroidery artist Kirsten Sutherland of St Fabiola, features an embroidered image of Dr Ashley Bloomfield surrounded by love hearts. It materialises New Zealand’s ‘Covid-19 crush’ on Dr Bloomfield, and relates to the government’s health advice about hand washing. This is the first Ashley hand towel Sutherland produced, but she was quickly run off her feet with orders and made hundreds more for customers.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health, was widely praised for his calm and clear communication during the national lockdown in 2020. In the first two months of the Covid-19 crisis Bloomfield fronted more than 40 press conferences, and the 1pm briefings led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Dr Bloomfield were appointment viewing. Songs were written in Bloomfield’s honour, thousands of people called for him to be nominated as New Zealander of the Year, and his fans called themselves ‘Bloomers.’

This adoration of Bloomfield was reported on nationally and internationally, although some commentators were concerned that the ‘deification’ of Bloomfield left little room for necessary scepticism and scrutiny of the Ministry of Health’s performance. Bloomfield himself called for several reviews of the government’s response to the pandemic. Nevertheless, for many New Zealanders Bloomfield’s leadership was a real comfort at a time of national crisis.

Sutherland started selling Ashley hand towels after sharing the idea with her family and finding that it struck a chord with them. The response to the hand towels was immediate and Sutherland received orders for more than 800 towels. They were so popular that they were mentioned in a New York Times article as an example of Bloomfield’s newfound celebrity.

As well as paying tribute to Dr Bloomfield, the hand towel signals the importance of hand washing as a way of stopping the spread of Covid-19. Sutherland encouraged customers to let the soothing image of Bloomfield guide them through safe hand washing and drying practice. The government’s advice to New Zealanders was that they should wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

References

• Ainge Roy, Eleanor. 2020. ‘"Delivers the stats like no other": New Zealand’s Covid-19 crush on health chief.’ The Guardian. 10 April, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/10/delivers-the-stats-like-no-other-new-zealands-covid-19-crush-on-health-chief
• Cave, Damien. 'Vanquish the Virus? Australia and New Zealand Aim to Show the Way.' New York Times. 24 April, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/world/australia/new-zealand-coronavirus.html
• Mediawatch. ‘Increasing media resistance to the deification of Dr Ashley Bloomfield.’ Radio New Zealand. 22 April, 2020. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018743685/increasing-media-resistance-to-the-deification-of-dr-ashley-bloomfield
• New Zealand Herald. 2020. ‘Covid 19 coronavirus: Ashley Bloomfield hand towels become an online hit.’ 15 April, 2020. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12324879
• St Fabiola. ‘Ashley Hand towel.’ https://stfabiola.co.nz/products/ashley-hand-towel
• Sutherland, Kirsten. 2020. Personal communication with curator.