Stories of Arrival

Exhibition in the AZC Willinklaan

28 Sep - 31 Dec 2024

In the neighbourhood

Migration and Amsterdam

Note: This exhibition can only be visited with a guided tour, book a ticket on this page.

If you go back far enough, everyone in the Netherlands arrived here through migration. Migration to Amsterdam is also a continuing phenomenon. Today, if you consider people who were born elsewhere, or one or both of whose parents were, then approximately 59% of Amsterdam’s inhabitants can currently claim a migratory background. A portion of these people fled their homelands because they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs or ethnic background. In the exhibition Stories of Arrival, these migratory narratives from past and present are linked thanks to a collaboration between the Amsterdam Museum, the Center for Asylum Seekers (AZC) Willinklaan, and residents of Amsterdam’s city center.

Book tour

Stories of the past and present

As part of the Amsterdam Museum’s Collecting the City program, activities and workshops were organized at the AZC in which people staying there could participate. The result is an exhibition where they relate their own stories alongside retellings of historical stories of migration. Appearing on the tables and walls of their communal areas are stories about the history of migrants through the centuries in the Netherlands. What were their backgrounds and reasons for coming to Amsterdam? How were they received, and were they able to settle here? What did they bring with them? During the colonial period, by contrast, enslaved persons would rather escape the Dutch at the time, which the Maroons did. Their story is also addressed here.

Book tour

Come along for a guided tour

The lives of residents of the AZC are depicted through photographic portraits taken during meetings and workshops, both at the Amsterdam Museum and in the AZC. The personal stories were told by the residents themselves. They show how cooperation and dialogue can lead to an exhibition that touches you and makes you think. Past and present, together they tell the stories of arrival.

This exhibition can only be visited at specific times. Community Manager Aleyna Yildiz gives a guided tour. Tickets for these can be ordered for free at the link below.

Tours: