If Only You Knew
MULTIMEDIA PROJECT
From the late 1960s, more and more women from Turkey came to the Netherlands to build new lives. What did those lives look like? We know very little about it. My book and exhibiton 'If Only You Knew' bring the stories of these women to light and give them a lasting place in Dutch history.
Bir bilsen… If only you knew… Many women begin their life stories this way when I visit them. Like Maviye, who fought for women's rights, and Selvet, who worked three shifts a day and barely saw her children as a result. Twenty-two of them are portrayed through interviews, photos from family albums, and new portraits of the women, who are now between sixty and eighty years old.
They talk about the pain of migration, homesickness, getting lost, and finding their way. Working, taking care of children, learning the language. Love and unhappy marriages. Being restricted as women and striving for 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, and ambiguous, as every human experience is.
This multimedia project is set to be displayed at the National Museum of Photography in Rotterdam in September 2024.
Bir bilsen… If only you knew… Many women begin their life stories this way when I visit them. Like Maviye, who fought for women's rights, and Selvet, who worked three shifts a day and barely saw her children as a result. Twenty-two of them are portrayed through interviews, photos from family albums, and new portraits of the women, who are now between sixty and eighty years old.
They talk about the pain of migration, homesickness, getting lost, and finding their way. Working, taking care of children, learning the language. Love and unhappy marriages. Being restricted as women and striving for 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, and ambiguous, as every human experience is.
This multimedia project is set to be displayed at the National Museum of Photography in Rotterdam in September 2024.
Credits
Maker: Çiğdem Yüksel
In collaboration with photographer: Bertien van Manen
Production: Prospektor and
Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam
Curator Prospektor: Frederiek Biemans
Curator Nederlands Fotomuseum: Frits Gierstberg
Design: Kummer&Herrman
Book design: Kummer&Herrman
Maker: Çiğdem Yüksel
In collaboration with photographer: Bertien van Manen
Production: Prospektor and
Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam
Curator Prospektor: Frederiek Biemans
Curator Nederlands Fotomuseum: Frits Gierstberg
Design: Kummer&Herrman
Book design: Kummer&Herrman
If Only You Knew
MULTIMEDIA PROJECTFrom the late 1960s, more and more women from Turkey came to the Netherlands to build new lives. What did those lives look like? We know very little about it. My book and exhibiton 'If Only You Knew' bring the stories of these women to light and give them a lasting place in Dutch history.
Bir bilsen… If only you knew… Many women begin their life stories this way when I visit them. Like Maviye, who fought for women's rights, and Selvet, who worked three shifts a day and barely saw her children as a result. Twenty-two of them are portrayed through interviews, photos from family albums, and new portraits of the women, who are now between sixty and eighty years old.
They talk about the pain of migration, homesickness, getting lost, and finding their way. Working, taking care of children, learning the language. Love and unhappy marriages. Being restricted as women and striving for 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, and ambiguous, as every human experience is.
This multimedia project is set to be displayed at the National Museum of Photography in Rotterdam in September 2024.
Bir bilsen… If only you knew… Many women begin their life stories this way when I visit them. Like Maviye, who fought for women's rights, and Selvet, who worked three shifts a day and barely saw her children as a result. Twenty-two of them are portrayed through interviews, photos from family albums, and new portraits of the women, who are now between sixty and eighty years old.
They talk about the pain of migration, homesickness, getting lost, and finding their way. Working, taking care of children, learning the language. Love and unhappy marriages. Being restricted as women and striving for 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, and ambiguous, as every human experience is.
This multimedia project is set to be displayed at the National Museum of Photography in Rotterdam in September 2024.
Credits
Maker: Çiğdem Yüksel
In collaboration with: Bertien van Manen
Production: Prospektor and Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam
Curator Prospektor: Frederiek Biemans
Curator Nederlands Fotomuseum: Frits Gierstberg
Design: Kummer&Herrman
Book design: Kummer&Herrman