Participating Artists Press Agency
Saturday 15th of February 2025 – page 5
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
Saturday 6th of November 2010
Rotterdam -
Many people in Tarwewijk who used to work in the harbour and factories are jobless today. The new job market is in hairdo (African, Asian, Western), international telephone booths, small…
Nies Medema –
Migrationpapa
Detroit -
Two men who migrated to the city from Kentucky in 1950s work on an old truck that belongs to the one on the right. They stayed behind when most of…
Marcin Szczepanski –
Migrationpapa
Dhaka -
Yet another barber shop. I was intrigued by the fact that this doubled as the place where the barber reared his homing pigeons. There were several houses and the pigeons…
Shahidul Alam –
Migrationpapa
Dhaka -
The bed in this family home almost fills up the entire space of the 8 foot by 8 foot room. Things are stuck up on the walls to save space…
Shahidul Alam –
Migrationpapa
Rotterdam -
Young skippers are trained in Maashaven. Lars de la Rie (one more week of school to go before he will be inland skipper) told me he was born only 5…
Nies Medema –
Migrationpapa
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
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
Detroit -
A sticker with a Detroit Lives! logo lies on the sidewalk in Woodbridge, historic neighborhood in midtown Detroit. There’s a lot of meaning contained in this image. First, the location…
Marcin Szczepanski –
Migrationpapa
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
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
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
Rotterdam -
Two balconies in pensioners home ‘ Harmonie’ (Harmony). One with a Dutch flag, the other with a satellite dish, allowing her to watch TV shows from all over the world…
Nies Medema –
Migrationpapa
Detroit -
A house in Mexican town, Southwest Detroit caught fire. Fires are daily occurrences in the city because of poverty, old electric wiring, insurance motivated arsons or lack of caution…
Marcin Szczepanski –
Migrationpapa
Dhaka -
A woman haggles over the price of lipstick and other cosmetics. She is prepared to pay 15 Taka (around 15 euro cents) for the lot, but the seller wants 25…
Shahidul Alam –
Migrationpapa
Detroit -
Adris Nia, 60, grew up in Detroit. His parents moved here from the south of the US to take government positions in the first half of the 20th century. They…
Marcin Szczepanski –
Migrationpapa
Rotterdam -
Ali Toptas tells me why there are no children in the play ground I saw the day before yesterday. There is a brand new play ground, also not far from…
Nies Medema –
Migrationpapa
Rotterdam -
In the harbour (Maashaven) someone felt the need to make art on this metal door.…
Nies Medema –
Migrationpapa
Rotterdam -
This is one of many money transfer shops in Tarwewijk. Since many Tarwewijkers want to send money home to their family, this is the perfect neighborhood to start a business…
Nies Medema –
Migrationpapa
Detroit -
A manifesto sign is on display at the entrance to the garden and orchard belonging to the Trumbull Plex, anarchist/artist community that has been established in two houses on Trumbull…
Marcin Szczepanski –
Migrationpapa
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
Rotterdam -
Some grain ware houses have been renovated and are used as discotheques or apartment buildings now, this one in Maashaven is still functioning.…
Nies Medema –
Migrationpapa
Detroit -
It’s 10 a.m. and Michigan Ave. is almost empty. Michigan Ave. is one of the main streets in Detroit. It was built to accommodate several lanes of traffic going…
Marcin Szczepanski –
Migrationpapa
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
Detroit -
A Latino man talks on the phone while looking at the house of his sister in Mexicantown that is engulfed in flames. Fires are daily occurrences in the city due…
Marcin Szczepanski –
Migrationpapa