BARCELONA.- Rotterdammers is a series of portraits of the inhabitants of Rotterdam, the city where Shehera Grot lives. It reveals her interest in the personal stories of her subjects, many of whom are, like her, people from different origins and cultures.

The photographic project aims to give visitors insights into the lives of people who transit every day between diverse identities. Rotterdam is one of the most diverse cities in the world; it is home to people of more than 170 nationalities, and half of its population is of migrant origin. According to Martina Millà, the exhibition’s curator, ‘the relationship that Grot forged with her subjects has enabled her to share doubts and questions about life in Rotterdam with them. As a mirror of that reality, they also demand to be considered an important part of the local culture.’

The show mainly features photographs of boys and girls of different ages, brothers and sisters, mothers, fathers and children, as well as some members of older generations, like Grot’s own aunt, who is portrayed in traditional Surinamese dress. They all appear in scenes of everyday life and key moments such as baptisms, birthday parties, school or other celebrations.

To create this series, Grot tells us: ‘I investigated the identity of a group of Rotterdammers who, like me, grew up between two cultures. Who are they? What is important to them? What traditional customs do they keep? [...] Through these intimate portraits, I get close to a group of inhabitants who demand their place in the documentation of the city.’

Shehera Grot works as a curator at the Kunsthal Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Born in Rotterdam to parents originally from Surinam, her photographic projects often centre on the broad social diversity of her home city. This human component is also part of her work at the Kunsthal, where she promotes an outreach programme that is highly committed to the issues affecting the inhabitants of the Dutch city.

As part of its programme, the Fundació Joan Miró has regularly hosted photography exhibitions in its foyer since 2012. Based on the agreement between the successors of Joaquim Gomis and the Government of Catalonia, the Fundació is in charge of managing the Joaquim Gomis Archive, disseminating the holdings within it, and promoting studies of the photographer’s work. To those ends, Gomis’s work is temporarily exhibited in the foyer and alternated with shows by other creators who practise photography on an amateur basis.