Travel the World and the Seven Seas
‘Arrival (Baghdad)’, 2010, 120 x 94 cm, (duratrans in lightbox)
In July and August 2010 I will present new work in three lightboxes in the Witte de Withstraat in Amsterdam. The presentation is part of a project from local community initiative ‘Creatief Initiatief’ called ‘Travel the World and the Seven Seas’. I choose photographic work of the roadtrip I made this spring together with writer Arnon Grunberg. We traveled from Istanbul to Baghdad by car. The photo is the moment of our arrival into Bagdad by sunset. The image is taken through the bulletproof glass of the Chevrolet we were driving in.
On view: July and August day and night Windows of Witte de Withstraat 25house, Amsterdam
Newroz 2010, Erbil, Iraq
This photo is part of the series of Newroz (Kurdish New Year) I made in North Iraq during Spring 2010. The girls are all sisters wearing Newroz self designed clothes. They played soccer and liked to pose near their parents car in the Newroz celebration area in a green field outside the city.
Baghdad Blast Walls 2010
These new photo series ‘untitled’ (blast walls)’ are deriving from a roadtrip she and the novelist Arnon Grunberg undertook by car from Istanbul to Baghdad in the spring of 2010.
The photos depicture the blast walls in the city of Baghdad and were all taken through the safety glass of a B6 armed vehicle Pel and Grunberg had to use to move around in the city. The blurry-ness is caused by taking the photos through the safety glass of the carwindow which could not open. Since the occupation of Iraq, Baghdad has protected it’s inhabitants by placing kilometers of blast walls along the main roads of the city. These walls are placed around ambassees, ministeries, police headquarters, checkpoints and other high risk areas and along the road to the international airport. Because of the presence of these walls the city looks like a labyrint and become alienated and anonymous. The walls are often moved around and rebuilt in other parts of the city as a modular system.
Baghdad Blast Walls 2010 was on view during Kunstvlaai 2010 in Amsterdam at the 1K Projectspace/de Ekster.
Observations of a Celebration NL&NL 2009
Video update:’Arrival’, shown in December as part of the book presentation in Amsterdam
News update: Photo exhibition opening February 19th!
At 1K project space in Amsterdam I will show the photographic research material of my ‘Observations of a Celebration NL & NY 2009′ project from February 20th till March 28th (opening Feb. 19th 5-7pm). More than 250 images in an installation. 1e Keucheniusstraat 13 hs, Amsterdam, 020-7731914
interviews and photos: Eva Pel, graphic design: Claudia Doms
english, 128 pages, 17 x 22,5cm, text and photos
book launch, December 19th 2009, 5-7 pm, Café Waterlooplein 77, Rapenburgerstraat 169, Amsterdam
price 19,50 euros
you can order the book by sending a mail to or by visiting a quality bookstore in Amsterdam
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