Çiğdem Yüksel

‘Time is running out. If we don’t add to our visual heritage soon, this history will remain invisible,’ says photographer Çiğdem Yüksel about the first generation of women from Turkey who ended up in the Netherlands. Yüksel shares their stories: of pain, migration, homesickness, working, caring, learning the language. About love and unhappy marriages. And about their struggle for freedom and equal rights.

The exhibition consists of 22 unique stories, accompanied by photos from family albums, (video) interviews and new portraits that Yüksel made in her mobile photo studio. They talk about the pain of migration, homesickness, getting lost and finding your way. Work, take care of the children, learn the language. Love and unhappy marriages. Being restricted as a woman and emancipation. Their contribution to the Dutch economy as factory workers or cleaners, and their struggle for freedom and equal rights. Their stories are diverse, layered, ambiguous, as any human experience is. A central part of the exhibition is a video installation in which Yüksel intimately reflects on the memories and thoughts of her deceased grandmother.