"In the Nearby" – Photo Exhibition in Neustadt Centrum Halle
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology (MPI) is pleased to announce the opening of the public exhibition "in der Nähe" ("In the Nearby") in Neustadt Centrum Halle. As a unique opportunity to rediscover Halle from the perspective of its migrants, the exhibition reflects the MPI’s objective of making our research available to the wider public. Thanks to the support of Neustadt Centrum Halle and the office for the economy, science, and digitalization of the city of Halle (Saale), the exhibition will be on display from 12 May to 7 June 2025.
The material in the exhibition is based on two collaborative projects of the Department ‘Anthropology of Economic Experimentation’ of the MPI. At the centre of both projects is the idea of the "nearby" as an analytical concept that asks us to look more closely at our immediate surroundings and neighbourhood: paying attention to what is nearby enables us to better understand ourselves and build meaningful relationships with others.
The experiences of migrant women in Halle are the focus of the multimedia project "Re-mind the Nearby", a collaboration with the migrant organization DaMigra e.V. and Halle’s City Museum (Stadtmuseum). The participants photographed places important in their daily lives in Halle and reflected on their significance and how the photos related to experiences in their homelands, which included Eritrea, Syria, the Sudan, and Ukraine. Their photos and narratives vividly illustrate how migrants reshape their world while keeping alive their memories and ties to the past. As a counterpoint to the photos from Halle, the art project “Seeing the First 500 Meters” takes us to China, revealing how human contact and intimacy helps residents to respond to a controlling state and social and economic restrictions.
By showing us the city through the eyes of migrants, the exhibition asks visitors to think about migration, placemaking, and the creation of belonging. The photos and stories enable us to look at the familiar setting with new eyes and reflect upon our own experiences of the city and the nearby.