Holland Festival – Crossings – Christiane Jatahy

At home?

Where is my home? What makes me feel like I belong somewhere? Who decides whether I am at home where I live now but was not born? How does migration affect your self-esteem and relationships with others?

At the invitation of the Holland Festival, Christiane Jatahy will talk to artists, activists and Amsterdam residents to investigate how they define 'home'. Crossings makes meeting possible at the crossroads: of life experiences, stories, languages and backgrounds. Jatahy's work is aimed at making connections and creating space for dialogue. The 2 Crossings sessions consist of live interviews with these Amsterdam residents, which are broadcast simultaneously in public spaces: on 15 June in Nelson Mandela Park and on June 19 in the Noorderpark.

Destination for many people

Jatahy thus addresses an important 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 is struggling with sustainable and affordable housing, leaving residents struggling to find a decent place to live.

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

'There are often barriers that are difficult to overcome, barriers that make it difficult to feel at home, to build a new home, 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 (a quote from the interview about The Lingering Now at Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles).