“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

money transfer shop

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

Cow on road

Dhaka -  A cow decides to take a leisurely walk along the road. Other traffic simply lets it be, and life goes on as normal.…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Sewage

Dhaka -  Much of the land on either side of the Beri Bandh embankment used to be a swamp, and most homes are built on stilts. The refuse from nearby tanneries and…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Feijenoord

Rotterdam -  In the distance we see the Football stadion of Feijenoord on a sunday evening(afternoon). In the front we see the Tarwewijk’s main traffic vein: de Dordtse laan. You cannot imagine…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

Rickshaw puller and his wife

Dhaka -  The concept of privacy is very different in a home where the whole family lives in one room.…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Together 2

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

Radio Tarwewijk

Rotterdam -  Erwin, the nice guy that I met in the street the other day introduced me to Eric. Eric is a very dedicated Tarwewijker who actively interacts when things happen that…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

Taking a break

Rotterdam -  A lot of effort has been made to improve the neighbourhood. Especially drugs abuse and criminality connected to that gave the Tarwewijk a very bad reputation. Streets with rows of…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

Together 1

Rotterdam -  To my surprise, the Chinese poet Bei Dao (now living in Danmark, is quoted on a garbage truck. It says: ‘ The source dries out, the fire rages, the road…
Nies Medema – Migrationpapa

Rayerbazaar: Goddess Kali

Dhaka -  Kali is considered the goddess of time and change. Although sometimes presented as dark and violent, her earliest incarnation as a figure of annihilation still has some influence. Shahidul Alam/Drik/Majority…
Shahidul Alam – 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

Day off

Sao Paulo -  If it’s your day off, it’s time to go shopping or if you prefer you can go to a museum or a gallery. You can also just walk the dog…
Ines Correa – Migrationpapa

Bad news need to be told

Rotterdam -  The new policy of the authorities is not to report anymore about the bad things that happen in the Tarwewijk. Radiomaker and DJ Eric does not agree. Bad news and…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

Back

Sao Paulo -  “Rua Mauá" used to be a street in “Cracolândia". It is close to “Estação da Luz” (train station and subway), and “Sala São Paulo” (one of the finest theaters -…
Ines Correa – 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

Sleeping like sand

Dhaka -  Kadar moton ghumai literally translates to ‘sleeping like sand’. It is generally used for small children who drape themselves around their mother, sleeping as if the world didn’t exist. These…
Shahidul Alam – 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

The nightshop

Rotterdam -  The Dordtse Lane counts numerous small and bigger foodstores and restaurants. This shop is open all night. Unfortunately the owner was shot three weeks ago by a customer he chased…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

Separatism

Rotterdam -  In the back you see Arthur the paperman. Here the builders gather. When there are around ten the minibus leaves. What is the job you are going to do I…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

Volunteer

Rotterdam -  ‘It makes me happy to help others,’ Ali Toptas says, ‘I remember when my mother and brothers and sisters and me moved here, coming from Turkey, joining may father…
Nies Medema – 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

Rickshaw Walla

Dhaka -  Most male migrants who come into from villages have skills like farming…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Trying to control

Rotterdam -  many efforts have been made to get the situation under control in the Tarwewijk. In this street the government has put up signs saying: NO DOPE SMOKING  due to…
Lino Hellings – Migrationpapa

The original

Sao Paulo -  When we go through Liberdade, we don’t know who is chinese or japanese. They are brazilian now. It’s so mixed! And so different from “the original\".…
Ines Correa – Migrationpapa