All Those Amsterdam People - The 70s to 90s

Amsterdam Changes: The 70s and 80s

The exhibition picks up where the previous exhibition All those Amsterdam people. Photos 1935-1970 ended. Urban renewal, the construction of the metro line, a deep economic crisis and high unemployment dominated the 1970s and 1980s. Never before in history have so many residents left the city. Families exchanged impoverished houses for sunny homes in surrounding cities such as Purmerend and Lelystad. However, there was also growth: the city expanded with the completion of the Bijlmermeer and the arrival of new Amsterdam residents through labour migration, family reunification and post-colonial migration. At the end of the 1980s, the contours of Amsterdam were emerging as a financial centre, an area for startups and investors.

External curators

The photo exhibition shows a critical, polyphonic perspective on the 1970s and 1980s. The City Archives wanted to look critically at the collection of historical photo assignments: who has been left out of the picture, and which stories have remained untold until now? But also, which photo series and stories are - surprisingly or not - present, and how can we make a selection that honours the history of all Amsterdammers? To find answers to those questions, this exhibition was put together by a curatorial group: creative makers, critical thinkers, and (photo) historians who are all actively involved in their own way with how history is told, preserved and shown. Based on their expertise, they pointed out gaps and new opportunities.

The curatorial group consisted of Warda El-Kaddouri, man of letters and author of the essay 'Forget us not' (2021), with which she held up a mirror to the City Archives; Jenny Smets, exhibition maker, image editor and teacher in the field of contemporary photography; Emin Batman, visual artist, aspiring architect and content creator from Amsterdam; Mark Bergsma, co-owner and founder of Van Yesterday, Giorgio and Onitcha Toppin, co-founders and owners of fashion brand Xhosa and Çiğdem Yüksel, photographer, winner of the prestigious Silver Camera in 2016. Giorgio Toppin also designed the spatial and graphic design of the exhibition.

All those Amsterdam people – Photos 1970-1990 brings stories to life about postcolonial migration, urban renewal, housing protests, economic crisis and the fight for equal rights. Many people were portrayed in this exhibition, and photographers or their descendants were interviewed. The result of the conversations has been incorporated into in-depth stories, which can be experienced via an extensive theme website, an audio tour and a three-part podcast about the De Tijdgeest guesthouse.