'Moi' - Dutch identity - 2010
During my time living and travelling abroad, I encountered many different cultures. Returning to the Netherlands, I found it difficult to feel at home again. This experience led me to explore cultural diversity closer to home. For this project, I portrayed local residents from Groningen and Friesland who had also had to adjust, feel at home. Through our conversations, I found recognition, connection, and renewed energy. I decided to photograph them wearing historical Dutch headgear originating from the Zuiderzee Museum; some of the pieces are privately owned. By combining contemporary portraits with traditional Dutch costume elements, I explore themes of culture, identity, and belonging. The series has been exhibited in various locations and galleries. An article about the project was also published by Digifoto Pro.
"After Mijke Bos caused quite a stir in the summer of 2009 with Wad Naakt, it seems that her latest exhibition will also generate a fair amount of discussion within the multicultural society. The earth may increasingly resemble a global village, but the many different cultures are still just as far apart as before. Young people may decide to take a sabbatical after their studies and travel the world as backpackers, but they too will realize after returning home that their own identity is an inseparable thing. That both our place of birth and the environment in which we grew up have helped make us who we are. Even if one limits oneself to one's own country, the difference is already clearly visible. Someone who comes from a religious background is very different from a humanist. A villager from a city dweller. The Turk to the Moroccan to the Ghanaian to the German to the Italian to the Palestinian to the Chilean to the Brazilian to the Chinese to the Tahitian to the Japanese .... The Christian to the Muslim to the Buddhist to the Hindu ....
But all these people also differ from each other, because each of us carries that purely personal element within us. That which makes every person a unique creature: our own character.
The much-travelled Mijke has also gone in search of her own identity, asking herself what makes her Dutch and what she has adopted from the many different cultures she encountered during her stay in other countries. Does she also look at what connects people? Where does the difference disappear and what is similar become visible?
With her new exhibition Moi – Gronings for 'hello' – the photographer plays with the theme of culture and identity. Last year she stood on the windy mudflats to capture man versus nature in an appealing photo series, for culture versus identity she exchanged that vastness for the intimacy of the studio. There she portrayed residents from the area around Dokkum, Sneek, Groningen and Leeuwarden. The piece of earth that is so much her own. Mijke adorned her non-native fellow citizens with historical Dutch headgear. In doing so, she succeeded in expressing the theme in an extremely effective way.
The series was presented on Wednesday 15 September 2010 at a very special location: the NS station in Leeuwarden. A place that has everything to do with the subject. For some, it will mean an introduction to the unknown upon arrival, while others will experience the feeling of coming home. The exhibition can be viewed there until 22 September in a glass container placed on the platform. The series will then move to the public library in Leeuwarden, where it will be on display until October 31, 2010 as part of the International Photo Manifestation Noorderlicht."