At the crossroads between journalism, art and charity
This project is a collaboration with writer Paulien Bakker, filmmaker Anisleidy Martinez Fonseca, photographer Anaïs López, curator Iris Sikking and editor Thomas Vroege.
The Rwandan government closes all orphanages because they do not fit the new (economic) status the country aspires. The children are better off with their own family or a foster family, is their argument. Journalist Paulien Bakker, filmmaker Anisleidy Martínez and photographer Anaïs López, followed the brothers Hirwa (13) and Jean-Cloude (11) as they went back to their mother Fareeda. Fareeda is 27 years old and too poor to care for them. Still, she is forced to take the boys in. The brothers begin laboriously to a new life in her small cabin with single bed. Will they make it together?
This project consists of a movie and a multimedia exhibition. There is also a notebook that is still for sale.
A teen orphaned by the Rwandan genocide makes the heartbreaking choice to abandon her children. Years later, an unshakable bond keeps her bruised boys looking toward the future.
Here bellow the trailer ‘In my dreams I want to become a tourist’ of the 24 min multimedia installation.
32 children from the L’Esperance Children’s Village followed a photography course in November of 2014, just several weeks before the orphanage was to be closed. The children portrayed their lives. They grew up without mirrors, tap water and without electricity. During the course they learned to look at themselves and the world. The pictures of the children were brought together in a photo notebook (designed by Linda Braber) that gives a unique insight into their world. The photo notebook is still for sale – and when you buy a book, all the proceedings go straight to the children involved. The money received will send these kids back to school, which often their relatives or adopted parents cannot afford. See: www.countrywithoutorphans.nl
The project ‘In My dreams I want to become a tourist’ was on show at Humanity House (The Hague), Fotodok (Utrecht), World Trade Center (Amsterdam & The Hague) and the public library (Amsterdam).
Colophon
Exhibition
Photography: Anaïs López and the Children of L’Esperance Children’s Village
Text: Paulien Bakker
Curator: Iris Sikking
Film installation
Film: Anisleidy Martinez Fonseca
Photography: Anaïs López
Interview: Paulien Bakker
Editing: Thomas Vroege
Booklet
Photography:Children of L’Esperance Children’s Village
Graphic design: Linda Braber
Editing: Linda Braber & Anaïs López & Anisleidy Martinez Fonseca
Text: Paulien Bakker
More information on www.countrywithoutorphans.nl
This project has been made possible with the financial support of the Amsterdam Fund for Arts, MiaP and Stroom.
Anaïs Lopez 