Fenix Museum, Rotterdam’s new art museum on the theme of migration, presents as one of its first exhibitions, The Family of Migrants, bringing together nearly 200 photographs by 136 photographers in 55 countries.
Curated by Hanneke Mantel, Head of Exhibitions and Collection at Fenix, The Family of Migrants is inspired by Edward Steichen’s legendary exhibition The Family of Man, regarded by many as the greatest photographic exhibition of all time, which was first shown at MoMA in 1955 and seen by millions as it toured the world.
This new exhibition includes works ranging from 1905 to the present day and includes a mix of documentary images, portraits and journalist photography drawn from international archives, museum collections, image banks, social media and newspapers. Themes explored include family, love, the danger of the voyage and saying goodbye.
It features iconic photographs such as Migrant Mother (1936), the famous photograph of Florence Owens Thompson taken by Dorothea Lange during the Great Depression, and Afghan Girl (1984), the portrait of young Sharbat Gula by Steve McCurry used as cover of National Geographic. The Family of Migrants features work by a mix of established and emerging photographers, including Lewis Hine, Chien-Chi Chang, Abbas, Robert de Hartogh, Éva Besnyő, Fouad Elkoury, Yasuhiro Ogawa, Emin Özmen, Sergey Ponomarev and Ata Kandó.
The book of the same name accompanying the exhibition, published by Hannibal Books, will feature reproductions of the full set of photographs in the show.
The Family of Migrants
From May 16, 2025
Fenix Museum, Rotterdam
Paul Nijghkade 5
3072 AT Rotterdam, Netherlands
https://www.fenix.nl/en/
