Document Nederland: Bare

Geert van Kesteren photographs hidden poverty in the Netherlands

In collaboration with NRC Handelsblad newspaper, the Rijksmuseum is organising the ninth photography exhibition centred on the annual 'Document Nederland' photography assignment. With the title Bare, hidden poverty in the Netherlands is the theme for this year's exhibition. It will be about those who literally live 'below the minimum', people who scrape by on a social security payment or old-age pension and as a result end up living on the outskirts of society. People who have been sent to the food bank because the supermarket is too expensive, and for whom life has literally become bare. The exhibition is the result of a collaboration with Huis Marseille, where the Rijksmuseum is now being temporarily housed for the second year.

The exhibition can be seen from 9 December 2006 to 4 March 2007.

Poor in a rich country

Van Kesteren sought out hidden poverty in big-city neighbourhoods as well as in the country, where it is especially farmers who form the group of people who are hit hardest economically and financially. The photographer captured food banks, teenage mothers, mothers on social security, the unemployable, people on disablement insurance payment, people with very little education and who sometimes have lots of problems with Social Services and who are often deep in debt. The question that Van Kesteren asked himself was: "Who are the people living below the poverty line and how do they live?" The photographer travelled to various impoverished neighbourhoods including those in Emmen, Venlo, Breda, Amsterdam-Zuid/Oost/Noord, Heerlen, The Hague and Rotterdam, and in these places recorded images of hidden poverty in one of the richest countries in the world.

Geert van Kesteren

Geert van Kesteren (1966) is best known for his book and exhibition Why Mister Why? that deals with the war in Iraq (2002-2004), and an exhibition on Aids in Zambia (2000). He has been twice named Photographer of the Year (1998, 2005) and won the Silver Camera Award in 1998. He has been a photographer since 1991, and during his career has covered themes in Bosnia, the Congo, Lebanon, Iran, Nepal and India.

Youth photography project

Analogous to Bare, a group of teenagers ranging from thirteen to sixteen years old photographed poverty the way they see it. A selection of their photographs will be on display along with Bare in Huis Marseille. In total there are seven stories, made by individuals or groups. This youth photography project has been organised by the Rijksmuseum and financed and supported by the Sem Presser Fund, a Registered Fund that is part of the Rijksmuseum Fund. The initiative will be continued in the years to come. For each 'Document Nederland' assignment in the coming years, young people will have the opportunity to submit their photographic vision of the topic. The participants in the 2006 assignment attend different types of schools: VMBO (Preparatory Secondary Vocational Education), Gymnasium (Pre-university Education with Latin and Greek), Vrije School (Waldorf Education) and HAVO (Senior General Secondary Education). One evening a week for six weeks, they received instruction as they delved into photography and the topic of poverty.

Sound portraits

The exhibition 'Document Nederland: Bare' will also feature sound portraits, in which various people involved with the subject have their say. These individuals include a social worker, an old-age pensioner, a professor, an employee of Dutch energy company NUON who comes to turn off the gas, a debt counsellor, etc.

Domestic Landscapes

At the same time as Document Nederland, Bert Teunissen will be displaying his photo series 'Domestic Landscapes' in Huis Marseille. In this series, he documents a traditional way of life that is disappearing ever more quickly in Europe due to advancing modernisation and EU legislation. Can be viewed from 2 December.