No land for love - Photography exhibition

"No land for love" is a series of portraits of men and women who had to flee their countries because they belong to the LGBTQ+ community.

It is a long run project whose first step is an exhibition in Amsterdam from the 18th of April to the 8th of June.

It is hosted and supported by IHLIA LGBT Heritage, at OBA Oosterdok, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Our ambition is to contribute to the public debate by sharing people’s stories, to fight against racism and homophobia.


Photographer Jean-Christophe Husson (www.jchusson.fr) started his work about LGBTQ+ minorities in Marseille in France two years ago.

Now, he is working on this long run project and has teamed-up with producer Andrea Wainer.

This exhibition is hosted and supported by IHLIA LGBT Heritage, at OBA Oosterdok, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

It is also supported by foundations Rainbow Den Haag, Wereldhuis in Amsterdam and LGBT Asylum support in Groeningen.



Purpose:
Although european countries are relatively accepting towards the LGBTQ+ community, the fight against the preconceptions and violence those people fled from might be a lengthy process.

We aim to set off a dialogue, to break stereotypes, to address societal questions with a visual vocabulary different from that usually featured by the mainstream media.

Our wish is to create a conversation between LGBT refugees, asylum seekers, and the public.

These women and men had to flee their countries, facing a violent discrimination that started within their own families. They were sometimes forced into marriage or raped by a close relative, forced to leave their houses, their town, finally their country, and often their children. Frequently, they had to escape from human trafficking.

We met many men and women from Syria, Libya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Morocco...We were deeply touched by their stories and amazed by their energy, dreams, and goals for the future.

We want the European public to meet them too. This is what this exhibition is about.


Every asylum seeker has to endure expectation, uncertainty, precariousness, for one, two, sometimes up to seven years. In addition to this, members of the LGBT community have to put up with the discriminations from their own fellow citizens, the lack of knowledge among the European public regarding the hardships they fled from, and the fear of disclosing their sexual orientation.

The portraits
The portraits are black and white photographs, on a white background. This is a deliberate aesthetic choice. There is nothing but a person, facing the audience. The person takes all. Telling her/his story, memories, dreams.

Each picture features a statement, or a dream, or a memory, something the person wants to share with the viewer. Most of these interviews were done during the photo session. This too is a deliberate choice.
We ask the person standing in front of the camera to think about this, about his or her words. They pose knowing that the viewer will read, will « hear » their testimonies. The text is part of the portrait.

We think these close-up portraits, the sharing of their stories, with a strong aesthetic intention, can help to change their image as conveyed by mainstream media and how the public perceives them.

It might also help to promote the efforts of dedicated foundations, working to support LGBT asylum seekers on an everyday basis.

The exhibition will first take place at OBA Oosterdok, in Amsterdam. It is a unique opportunity to reach a wide audience.

By presenting these stories we aim to contribute, on our modest scale, to fighting against racism, homophobia, ignorance and finally indifference.

We need your help to make this exhibition happen!

We need the funds for:

- 15 to 20 large size prints, presented in frames or on dibond 2mm,

- A printed paper catalog,

- Lights & studio for the video,

- Post-production / retouch

- Train tickets for the portrayed people

- Shipping costs for the prints.


What will you receive in exchange for your support?
You can choose a reward from the list below. They will be available by the end of April.
A portrait of your choice, with or without text. 
Examples : 


- For 1000 Euros or more:

A portrait of your choice Size 60 x 90. Professional quality Epson inkjet on 270 gr paper. On dibond 2 mm. Signed by the artist and numbered from a limited series of 5. Free shipping within Europe. For shipping outside Europe, quotation on request.
Your name will be featured in the sponsor’s list on jchusson.fr website. And you will get our genuine, everlasting, gratitude. (If you are a company, the logo can be displayed too).

- For 500 Euros or more:

A print of your choice Size 40 x 60. Professional quality Epson inkjet on 270 gr paper. On dibond 2 mm. Signed by the artist and numbered from a limited series of 20. Free shipping within Europe. For shipping outside Europe, quotation on request.
Your name will be featured in the sponsor’s list on jchusson.fr website. And of course, our genuine, everlasting, gratitude.

- For 250 Euros or more:

A print of your choice Size 40 x 60. Professional quality Epson inkjet on 270 gr paper. Signed by the artist and numbered from a limited series of 20. Free shipping within Europe. For shipping outside Europe, quotation on request.
Your name will be featured in the sponsor’s list on jchusson.fr website. And of course, our genuine, everlasting, gratitude.

- For 100 Euros or more:

A print of your choice Size 30 x 40. Professional quality Epson inkjet on 270 gr paper, signed by the artist.   Your name will be featured in the sponsor’s list on jchusson.fr website. And of course, our genuine, everlasting, gratitude.

- For 35 Euros or more.

A print of your choice size 20x30. Fuji quality, signed by the artist. Your name will be featured in the sponsor’s list on jchusson.fr website. And of course, our genuine, everlasting, gratitude.

- For 25 Euros or more

A print of your choice size 9 x 13. Fuji quality, signed by the artist. Your name will be featured in the sponsor’s list on jchusson.fr website. And of course, our genuine, everlasting, gratitude.

- For 15 Euros or more.

Your name will be featured in the sponsor’s list on jchusson.fr website. And of course, our genuine, everlasting, gratitude.

You can also support this project by sharing the crowdfunding campaign.


The project is broader!

- A preview of the project will be presented on 15 March during Dordrecht Pride LGBT Congress within the « Synod400 » program.

- We are organizing theater / performance workshops with some of the asylum seekers.

- A second exhibition will take place at Broedplaats Bouw in Amsterdam from 10 to 16 June . More pictures will be presented then, plus a new video featuring the result of the first theater workshops.

- The exhibition is invited to travel to Harlem, New York, in September, to be presented at Nova Frontier Film Festival.

- We also expect it to travel to France. It will be enhanced with new portraits of asylum seekers in France.

- A book will be published in 2020. It will feature the portraits as well as interviews of intellectuals, association’s leaders, and cultural / political decision makers.

We will keep you updated at each step of the project. It’s starting now, and you can be part of it.

Please support, and share!