Nael Quraishi

FOTODOK x BredaPhoto

With Grounding – Stories of Migration, FOTODOK ✕ BredaPhoto Festival present works by seven artists that tell stories of first generation migration – those who came to the Netherlands by choice or by circumstance. These works reflect processes of diasporic homemaking and identity formation: both ever-evolving pursuits for the uprooted. Split into parts, or caught between past and present, the urge to define a new sense of home – and a new sense of self – becomes stronger than ever.

Participating artists: Giya Makondo-Wills, Hanna Hrabarska, Kevin Osepa, Marwan Magroun, Nael Quraishi, Sebastian Koudijzer & Tyler Koudijzer, Thana Faroq

Curated by Daria Tuminas

This is home after all combines two realities, juxtaposing life in the Netherlands, where Nael Quraishi now resides, and life in Pakistan, where he spent his early years. Throughout the post-migrant lens, the artist looks out past the windows of his living rooms, observing surroundings: “All my senses are fixated by slight glimpses into the lives of neighbouring families. There is a comfort to the sounds of afternoon chaos from the streets behind. The breeze perfumed with the savoury scent of onions, garlic and ginger frying in oil. The dominant sounds of men in the distance. The caws of a crow perched by my window paired with the buzzing of generator units, interrupted only by the distant thuds of a tram on its tracks.”

Transforming the scenes beyond his window, Quraishi reaches out into another reality. He opens up a space for contemplation, for building connections between geographies, and for noticing mundane details of daily life that bring memories of home. In the end, what we see is a landscape of worded reflections and in-betweenness: a recreation of a mental image in an attempt at diasporic home-making.