To accompany Art Rotterdam and Rotterdam Art Week, I would also like to draw attention to the new Fenix Museum in Rotterdam, which is dedicated to migration. It is an iconic building dating from the 1920s, where migrants’ luggage was stored before their departure for the United States. Today, this building is set to become a meeting place, showcasing international art and public engagement. The architecture works from the inside out: the monumental double staircase (Tornado) leads up to the panoramic roof.
Family of Migrants (image 1-16 & 24)
As I said in one of the articles published earlier this week: we are all children of migrants; that is a certainty. The museum also tells this story, but invites us to reflect on how we deal with it.
Several exhibitions are currently on display, which will be of great interest to photography enthusiasts. First and foremost is ‘Family of Man’, clearly inspired by the iconic initiative of Edward Steichen (1879–1973). He was one of the most important figures in Stieglitz’s circle, and a highly talented fashion and portrait photographer. During the First and Second World Wars, he answered the call to serve his country, no doubt partly because he had Luxembourgish roots.
After the last conflict came a sobering realisation: how do we come to terms with the carnage of the great wars, and what lies ahead for humanity? He resolved to create a travelling exhibition, *The Family of Man*, intended to emphasise our shared humanity. He invited the photographic community to submit an image. He received 500 images from 68 countries; the result was first exhibited in 1955 and travelled around the world for eight years. It had an immense influence, for example on the recognition of photography as a fully-fledged form of expression. The exhibition featured such luminaries as Capa, Cartier-Bresson, Vishniac, Winogrand and many others.
Rotterdam has a special connection with The Family of Man: as early as the 1990s, an alternative exhibition was organised with a stronger focus on feminist, global and ecological themes. It therefore seems logical that, with the opening of the new museum, ‘The Family of Migrants’ has been launched, the next step in the Family story. Slightly smaller in scale than its inspiration, but no less impressive in quality. This initiative showcases almost 200 photographs, taken by 136 photographers from 55 countries. The selection includes Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, Steve McCurry, Chien-Chi Chang, Olivier Jobard, Abbas, Robert de Hartogh, Eva Besnyö, Fouad Elkoury, Yasuhiro Ogawa, Emin Özmen, Sergey Ponomarev, Ata Kandó, Ada Trillo and Yzza Slaoui, Alfred Stieglitz
In the finest humanist spirit, the focus is on people, for as the organisers themselves put it: “people are always on the move. Whether by choice, out of necessity, or under duress”. And just as in *The Family of Man*, it depicts familiar, comparable situations and emotions – feelings of love, hope, farewell and sorrow.
The Family of Migrants is accompanied by a publication of the same name containing all the photographs from the exhibition. The book includes an introduction by curator Hanneke Mantel. Joumana El Zein Khoury, director of the World Press Photo Foundation, and Anke Reitz, former curator of The Family of Man at Clervaux Castle in Luxembourg, Edwards Steichen’s birthplace, have written introductory essays. The publication also features six essays: by writer Rodaan Al Galidi, poet Rim Battal, philosopher Stine Jensen, chef Asma Khan, writer and activist Danny Ramadan, and writer C Pam Zhang. The book is available in Dutch, English, French and Arabic and is published by Hannibal Books.
All Directions – Dans tous les sens (image 17-21)
The second exhibition, All Directions, features diverse art on migration by over a hundred artists from around the world. The Fenix collection features paintings, sculptures, videos, installations and photographs by both emerging talents and internationally celebrated names, such as Francis Alÿs, Sophie Calle, Shilpa Gupta, William Kentridge, Kimsooja, Steve McQueen, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Adrian Paci, Gordon Parks, Grayson Perry, Yinka Shonibare, Bill Viola, Danh Võ and others. Beya Gille Gacha, Raquel van Haver, Hugo McCloud, Chae Eun Rhee and Efrat Zehavi have created new artworks especially for Fenix. These are on display for the first time and exclusively in Rotterdam.
Rotterdam Photo (image 25)
During Rotterdam Art Week, Rotterdam Photo is right in front of Museum Fenix, on the Deliplein. This international photography festival presents over thirty photographers from around the world in an unusual setting: an open-air container village. The 2026 edition, “Echoes of Silence – War in the Soul of the Artist,” explores how conflict and tension resonate through personal narratives, memory, and migration. Rather than directly depicting violence, the focus is on the inner resonance of conflict: photography as a reflection of what war and unrest leave within each individual. Also on the program is a series of thematic exhibitions showcasing the work of artists such as Caroline Monnet (Canada), Diego Moreno (Mexico/Switzerland), Hashim Nasr (Sudan/Egypt), and Otto Snoek (Rotterdam). Rotterdam Photo also offers a program of talks, panel discussions, concerts, and artist talks.
Book (image 24)
The Family of Migrants (EN, FR, NL), Hanneke Mantel, Stine Jensen, Rodaan Al Galidi et al. €55.00 Free shipping (Benelux)
John Devos
johndevos.photo (a) gmail.com
