Blog

A discussion with the older generation in Mathare

JR is an anonymous photographer and artist and the 2011 TED Prize winner. In his work, JR embeds into neighborhoods, favelas and villages around the world, photographing the people who live there and learning their stories — and then pasting his striking images onto massive local canvases: buildings, buses, roads and bridges like in the slums of Nairobi. His latest global art project is called “Women Are Heroes.”

Soul Boy Trailer | director Hawa Essuman | International Rotterdam Filmfestival 2010
A German crew collaborated with a Kenyan production company to host production workshops in Kibera | Nairobi one of the largest slums in East Africa. In the joyous, compelling film that resulted, a teenage boy discovers his father is dying, tracks down the witch who stole his soul and then embarks on a quest to save him.

Dutch TV-programm: Bestemming onbekend | July 2010
Two young girls are challenged on the airport of the Netherlands: they can change their ticket into a destination which is unknow till they arrive. Hoping for an upgrade of their ticket, they agree and before they know, they arrive in the slum Mathare Valley in Nairobi; Kenya. Till now they never ever realised this world was also excisting …

“Mathare Valley

als ik mijn ogen sluit
& in de donkerte van mijn oogleden
mezelf hoor ademhalen
in alle rust
drijven er gedachten naar boven
denkend aan Mathare Valley
doemen de kleuren grijs/zwart/grijs/grijs/grijs op
met tinten van aardekleur, roest
van de wanden die huisjes heten
terwijl donker water zich een weg vindt
willekeurig, waar het kan
zo leven de mensen
samen, naast/in/op elkaar
dreunt mijn hart in mijn kas
bonzend weerspiegelt het het leven
van de mensen
die overleven
dag in, dag uit
tik, tak, vordert de tijd
& pompt de energie door de nauwe lanen
als nergens anders
terwijl ik mijn ogen sluit
kan ik het proeven
als zachte adem over mijn huid voelen strelen
& glimlach ik van binnen … “