“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

Axe

Detroit -  A door is marked by a cut left by an axe when a burglar forced his entry into a house. Most of the residents who could afford to have left…
Marcin Szczepanski – Migrationpapa

Friendship

Dhaka -  “Beri Band” the embankment around Dhaka city, where a lot of migrants from the villages end up staying. The photograph of the two men might have sexual overtones in other…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Rooftop

Dhaka -  With the upper floors of the bazaar demolished, light and rain come through the new openings. Plastic sheets of different colours make up the impromptu rooftop. Nice colours and space…
Shahidul Alam – 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

Gasfire

Dhaka -  Gas fire: Throughout Bangladesh is the ubiquitous tea stall selling sweet thick tea. This is where politics, love and the ways of the world are discussed. The fire under a…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Young people 1

Rotterdam -  It’s 1 pm. Three young people hanging around the afro-cosmetics-wig-international phonecall-shop. The boy with the leather jacket is complaining about something. It’s not clear what bothers him. Life in general…
Nies Medema – Migrationpapa

Rice loaders

Lagos -  Men who are mostly from northern Nigeria are off loading bags of rice into the wharehouse in Iddo terminus market. The market is popular for transtional trading. This has made…
Andrew Esiebo – Migrationpapa

family business 1

Rotterdam -  Father Sheikh (born in Pakistan) started his mini-supermarket 8 years ago. Daughter Maawish (born in Rotterdam) wanted to be a model when she was younger, but is happy to work…
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

A tailoring apprentice

Lagos -  A taloring apprentice who recently migrated from the nothern Nigeria to Lagos sewing cloth at the Iddo terminus market. The market is popular for transtional trading. This has made it…
Andrew Esiebo – Migrationpapa

Young people 2

Rotterdam -  This young mother buys her groceries cheap in the mini-supermarket of the Sheikh family and the Bas van der Heijden across the street. Her pram is expensive, this is the…
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

Inside

Detroit -  Inside of a burned down house on Michigan Ave. in Detroit. Michigan Ave. used to be one of the most commercially viable parts of the city due to a large…
Marcin Szczepanski – Migrationpapa

scrap metal

Rotterdam -  A man transports scrap metal with his ship from one harbour to another. He says his hands are resistant to poison and acid. His ships’ name is De Volharding (Perseverance)…
Nies Medema – Migrationpapa

Resistance

Sao Paulo -  There is a fight in central São Paulo for the right to remain living there. The big companies want to ‘revitalise’, in other words, buy the buildings for ridiculously low…
Ines Correa – Migrationpapa

Different Religions

Sao Paulo -  This is a church that korean made in “Bom Retiro” - Korean Peace Presbyterian Church. This neighborhood is always in change. First came the italians (1920), second the jews (after…
Ines Correa – Migrationpapa

Readings

Sao Paulo -  A neighborhood where there are brazilian magazines like “Caras", that means “Face" and Korean newspapers “working” together.…
Ines Correa – Migrationpapa

Matrasses for rent

Rotterdam -  Recently al lot of Polish people started populating the Tarwewijk. In the evening the quarter fills up with cars carrying Polish numberplates. They do not work in Rotterdam but travel…
Lino Hellings – 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

Business of legiums

Lagos -  A young boy who recently migrated from the nothern Nigeria to Lagos is assisting and learning the business of legiums at the Iddo terminus market. The market is popular for…
Andrew Esiebo – Migrationpapa

Catch up with the news.

Dhaka -  Dhaka Bangladesh ”Beri Band” the embankment around Dhaka city, where a lot of migrants from the villages end up staying. Once preparing meat is over, time to catch up with…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Lunchtime

Sao Paulo -  When I arrived in the neighborhood of “Bom Retiro” it was lunchtime. A good time to be there because I was not allowed to enter inside the stores, people didn’t…
Ines Correa – 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