Crossings

Where is my home? What makes me feel that I belong to a place? Who decides if I’m at home in a place that I chose to be, but was not born in? How does migration affect one’s sense of integrity and relationship with others?  

“Crossings” means meeting at the crossroads – of life experiences, stories, languages and backgrounds. Jatahy’s work aims to connect and establish a space for a dialogue.  

With this project Jatahy addresses a burning theme in Amsterdam – a destination for many people of different nationalities and backgrounds, who want to make it their home. At the same time, the city struggles with sustainable and affordable housing, making citizens struggle to even find a decent place to live. 

Invited by Holland Festival, Jatahy will engage in a conversation with artists, activists and citizens of Amsterdam to explore how they define ‘home’. The two Crossings sessions will involve live interviews with Amsterdam residents, with simultaneous broadcasts in the public space: on 15 June in Nelson Mandelapark and on 19 June in Noorderpark. 

Christiane Jatahy puts the topic of home at the center of her artistic work. She is fascinated by the figure of Odysseus, and sees in his story a daily reality of millions of people in transition. In her past projects (Re-connaitre (se souvenir pour ne pas oublier) or Moving People) she invited individuals to share their personal stories about exile, crossing borders and searching for a new place.  

‘There are often barriers that are difficult to remove, barriers that make it difficult to feel like one is home, to build a new house, a family or a future.

For some people in exile or in a country at war, only the present exists, the past is already too far behind them or almost destroyed, and the future is unimaginable.’

- Christiane Jatahy