Commissioned by the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp and in co-creation with Niko Hafkenscheid, I spent seven months among the residents of the refugee centre Linkeroever. I nestled myself in the everyday life of the centre and, together with the residents, looked for a meaningful, cooperative way to record the reality of the situation.
A participatory project developed around the theme of the painterly 'still life', in which the residents were asked to compose their own photographic image with elements from their daily lives. The residents liked the idea because their own lives in the centre are almost completely at a standstill for a certain period of time. They brought in what seemed relevant to them and together with the artists recorded their objects in photographs.
On the occasion of the exhibition Vluchtverhalen, which runs from 1 April to 31 December 2022, these photos are incorporated into an interactive installation in which the public itself can dig into the thoughts that are connected to them.
Production: Red Star Line Museum Antwerpen, Valentina Stepanova and Niko Hafkenscheid
In co-creation with: Arwa, Mohammed, Amir, Mirwais, Ayushi, Fatma, Rafi, Rasul, Rixcielo, Daisy, Carlos, Sasha, Michael, Georgy, Hodon Abdallah, Maria Moba, Behzad, Louis Muntu, Aboe Khaled, Zaki, Ahmed en Bashir; courtesy of
the Linkeroever refugee centre and workspacebrussels staff
Presentation: Red Star Line Museum Antwerpen
