International Day of the Refugee - event in collaboration with Vluchtelingen in de Knel

In June 2016 the United Nations declared the 20th of June, International Day of the Refugee. Over the last nine months, the Van Abbemuseum has been working collaboratively with Vluchtelingen in de Knel, a non-profit organization that promotes the basic rights of (rejected) refugees, to tell their stories in the museum. On the day of this international celebration, Vluchtelingen in de Knel volunteers and clients will be taking over the museum for an evening filled with music, theater and discussion.

This event will also be the opening of the mini-exhibit, Photo Voices, which is installed in the Werksalon, on the first floor of the collection building. Coordinators and photographers from Vluchtelingen in de Knel have been hosting workshops with refugees to assist them in photographically telling their stories about living as an undocumented person in the Netherlands. The aim of this project is to shed light and humanize the stories of these people because they are often misconstrued in the news and media.