09 November 2015 / 07 December 2015 / 16 January 2016 / 27 January 2016
Signed, titled, dated and numbered on a label
52,7 x 39,8 cm (print)
Edition of 10
ABOUT THE WORK
Near the harbour city Calais in France, the heart of democratic Europe, a parallel world exists, also known as ‘The Jungle’. Here, refugees from Africa and the Middle East are awaiting their chance to make the crossing to England. Henk Wildschut has been following the increasing flow of refugees in Calais ever since 2005.
In 2011, Wildschut published the book Shelter for which he captured the cabins built by refugees in the forests of Calais. After this area was cleared, the by refugees conquered places have been taken back by nature and there are solely traces of human presence left. Thereafter, a bit further into the dunes, a second camp on a bigger scale emerged with ‘houses’, restaurants, churches, mosques, libraries, electricity, a road network and sanitation.
Different from other photographers, Wildschut is deliberately not focusing on the visualisation of direct and heart wrenching personal stories of refugees. Nevertheless, they are constantly present in a meaningful way, namely through their attempts to create a home and to survive. Through the traces they literally leave behind they are, ‘the invisibles’ that officially do not exist, highly visible. This artistic choice does justice to the complexity of the problematics of the current refugee crisis that is about visibility and invisibility, acknowledgment or denying, temporary or structural, self-controlled or uncontrolled, local and (international) and the often complex tension between the political and societal reality.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Henk Wildschut (Harderwijk, 1967) has studied at the Koninklijke Academie voor Beeldende Kunst (KABK) in The Hague. His self-initiated projects are being exhibited worldwide and besides, he works for magazines and design- and communication agencies. Characteristic for the work of Wildschut is the contemplative and distanced look at the persons and situations he photographs. His method has a documentary character, while also being poetic and suggestive. His photographs offer a counterweight to the emotional photographs of refugees we know from newspapers and television.
ABOUT BUYING THIS PRINT
The print will be carefully wrapped and send as an insured package. You will receive an e-mail with a Track & Trace code when the package is on its way. A framed copy is on display at Foam Editions, the gallery on the third floor of Foam Fotografiemuseum.
For more information or questions about acquiring this print, you can contact the Foam Editions team.
T. +31 (020) 5516500
E. [email protected]