“Migrationpapa”

On a Monday morning in November 2010, six photographers in five cities around the world take their cameras to urban neighbourhoods where newcomers arrive. The photos flow into the PAPA website like a wave moving around the world. First from Bangladesh, five hours later from Rotterdam and Lagos – cities in the same time zone. Detroit and São Paulo complete the group another seven hours later. From the first week the photos and captions were projected on the windows of the cultural centre at the entrance to the neighbourhood in Rotterdam. The same will happen in other cities. In this way the inhabitants of the various newcomers neighbourhoods not only get a fresh perspective on their own lives but they also get to see how newcomers in other cities live. Migrationpapa is a PAPA project for Kosmopolis Rotterdam with the generous support of Hivos

The Tarwewijk.

Rotterdam -  The Tarwewijk from the Art Hotel where I checked in for two days. In old days the men of the Tarwewijk worked in the harbour, which you see here on…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

tradition 1

Rotterdam -  Traditional Dutch churches and believers are becoming extinct species. This is a spire of a former reformed church in Tarwewijk. It is now the home of a church called Victory…
Nies Medema – Migrationpapa

Stairway

Dhaka -  A narrow wooden stairway takes people to the upper floor of the two storied accommodation in Sadek City Model Town. The rooms do not have windows so the upper rooms…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

cityscape 1

Rotterdam -  While focusing on migration, entrepreneurship, violence, volunteer work, churches and welfare, I almost forgot to share the great views one has in this neighborhood. Rotterdam is a port, and as…
Nies Medema – Migrationpapa

Girls in kitchen

Dhaka -  The two girls decided they would be art directors for the day and took me around. At one point we went to the local photo lab to get prints made…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Young entrepreneurs 2

Rotterdam -  Sanne Luijben graduated from art school in 2009. From the south she moved to Tarwewijk. Sanne likes Tarwewijk because of its international atmosphere. Houses are cheap too. She recently had…
Nies Medema – Migrationpapa

Faith as strategy for survival

Lagos -  Multitude of people during the prayers session of the Mountain of Fire and Miracle church (MFM) , in their annual spiritual deliverance and miracle service. In Nigeria, means for daily living…
Andrew Esiebo – Migrationpapa

Pit-bull rage

Detroit -  A pit-bull mix dog barks at a stranger in a Delray neighborhood in Detroit. Pit bulls are common in the city; they are feared for their jaw strength and admired…
Marcin Szczepanski – Migrationpapa

Cheap houses

Rotterdam -  For what reasons do people leave the house/the city/the country they live in? And why do they choose The Tarwewijk as a quarter to live in? One of the explanations…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

Empty houses turned into art

Detroit -  Empty houses have been turned into art installations. Heidelberg Project is the most well known example of urban art in Detroit inspired by socio-economic issues prevalent in the city. A…
Marcin Szczepanski – Migrationpapa

Tabiz

Dhaka -  Most people have a ‘tabiz’. They are usually small pieces of paper with writings from the Qur’an, packed in little tubes or small caskets. They are often tied around the…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

City art 2

Rotterdam -  After the houses on this corner were demolished, these colorful faces appeared, painted on a mobile home in a garden. How did they ever get that caravan in this garden…
Nies Medema – Migrationpapa

The Harbour

Rotterdam -  The Tarwewijk Rotterdam. Harbourfront with scrap metal. Depot for trader in king size chains and anchors. Lino Hellings 1th of November 2010 The Tarwewijk translated is the…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

Creativity and Survival1

Lagos -  Well, the two photos I will send today deal with water. I will like to put the photos under the titled borrow from a sociologist Annalisa Butticci called Creativity and…
Andrew Esiebo – Migrationpapa

Emerging from the earth

Dhaka -  The precision required in placing the fragile clay pots is difficult to gauge. Once each circle of pots is in position, the men tap the pots to hear for any…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

HEIDELBERG PROJECT

Detroit -  A dead tree is covered with teddy bears and topped with shopping carts (used by the homeless in the city). The Heidelberg Project was created in 1986 by artist Tyree…
Marcin Szczepanski – Migrationpapa

City art 1

Rotterdam -  In the harbour (Maashaven) someone felt the need to make art on this metal door.…
Nies Medema – Migrationpapa

Papers please

Rotterdam -  After having watched the (probably) illegal workers going off in the dark and after having said goodbeye to Arthur, I start to explore the quarter by car. Within short a…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

The houses

Dhaka -  Many of the inhabitants of Sadek City Model Town live in narrowly packed lines of rooms made of bamboo. They can get water from nearby tubewells and have electricity for…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Street Art part 1

Detroit -  An abandoned building on Chene St. in Detroit has been turned into an urban canvas by an artist. The painting presents cartoon characters engaged in violence and drugs. It was…
Marcin Szczepanski – Migrationpapa

Where are?

Sao Paulo -  Bolivians or not? It is dificult to know. They don’t want to talk about theyr activities and where they are going to, where they live or work. In this photo…
Ines Correa – Migrationpapa

Working the hassle

Detroit -  A man has set up a yard sale in front of his house in Detroit’s Near East Side. He’s trying to sell the contents of a neighbouring house. Three chairs…
Marcin Szczepanski – Migrationpapa

Financial opportunities

Lagos -  Mr Lawal from Katsina on his commercial motor bikes also known as Okada awaiting passenger in Onike, another migrant community in Lagos. He left his family after hearing many stories…
Andrew Esiebo – Migrationpapa