ZWOLLE.- Humberto Tan is a well-known Dutch radio and TV presenter. He is also an ambassador for the Dutch Red Cross. Last summer he visited refugee camps in Bangladesh in that capacity. His photographs tell a story of oppression, persecution, suffering and resilience. Poor but Proud features 40 of his pictures and is on from 1 December 2017 to 11 February 2018 at the Academiehuis and Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle.

Humberto Tan (b. 1965) has been a Dutch Red Cross ambassador for over 15 years. He regularly visits places around the world where the Red Cross is working to relieve human suffering. Last summer he was in Bangladesh, where many people escaping from Myanmar have sought refuge in the Kutupalong and Balukhali camps. He talked to them and recorded their lives in his photographs.

It is only since last year, when he won Dutch TV station RTL’s photo competition “Het Perfecte Plaatje” (“The perfect picture”), that Humberto Tan has called himself a photographer. But he’d been taking photographs for decades before that. This exhibition reveals both his social commitment and his creative vision. He manages to win the trust of his subjects and to capture both their distress and their full and vigorous humanity.

The exhibition is co-curated by Humberto Tan and Ralph Keuning (Museum de Fundatie). The show at the Academiehuis (a.k.a. the Grote Kerk) in Zwolle comprises 36 large-format photos (100 x 150 cm), while the display at the Fundatie features four of Tan’s photos in dialogue with the collection of the museum.

Museum de Fundatie organizes compact exhibitions of a high standard at venues other than its own two locations under the name ‘FUNDATIEfusions’.