While the world is focused on the war in Ukraine, there still is a drought ongoing in the Horn of Africa and parts of East Africa. Together with Saskia Houttuin, I talked in Dutch talkshow Op1 about what is happening in Somalia and how Putin’s war is making the situation even worse. To watch the interview, click here. To watch the whole episode, hosted by Hugo Logtenberg and Nadia Moussaid, click here.
Sex work, China and Nairobi's nightlife: the art of Michael Soi
“I like to let corrupt Kenyans take a hard look in the mirror, to show them how greedy they are. I just can't stand the hypocrisy. If you like going to a prostitute, why shouldn't I make a work of art about it?”
Kenyan artist Michael Soi (1972) doesn’t shy away from controversy. His bright, colored paintings are about political sensitivities and sex work, and he finished a series of 100 artworks on the Kenyan-Chinese relations. But the Chinese are not happy with his statements about their "political interference" in Africa.
To find out more, read the full piece (in Dutch), tap on this link or get a copy of Trouw!
New work for EenVandaag & Trouw: thousands evicted because of "Road for the rich"
The construction of a China-funded toll road has led to the demolition of thousands of houses in a Nairobi informal settlement called Mukuru Kwa Njenga. The demolition painfully exposes the large gap between the rich and poor in Kenya. Through shadowy constructions, high-ranking government officials are said to have used the construction of “the road for the rich“ to drive residents from their land.
For Dutch news programme EenVandaag, I spend a few days with residents of Mukuru Kwa Njenga, who have lost all they have after bulldozers came to demolish their homes. A longer version of the story was also published by Dutch daily Trouw – tap here or on the picture below to read that article.
How one picture changed Mohamed Yousifs life - new work for Trouw
Japanese AFP photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba won the World Press Photo exactly two years ago, with a picture from Sudan depicting Mohamed, who was reciting a poem on a dark soccer pitch in Khartoum. The photo has brought Mohamed a lot: he’s now studying in Maastricht and hopes to one day become president of Sudan.
For Trouw, I made a reconstruction about how Mohameds life was turned upside down because of Chiba’s iconic photograph. Click on this link to read the piece (in Dutch).
Somalia is facing its worst drought in 40 years
Millions of people are facing severe hunger as a result of the worst drought in 40 years in the Horn of Africa. For 8 days, I traveled through the country for Dutch and international media and what we witnessed was heartbreaking and harrowing. People have lost everything because of the drought, children die because of malnutrition.
As the situation deteriorates, aid agencies fear that a focus on the Ukraine crisis is likely to overwhelm the agenda and donors at a critical time for the East African country of Somalia in particular. According to a statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, only 3.2 percent ($47.1m) of the required funding ($1.5bn) for its humanitarian response plan has been received so far.
To read some of the stories I worked on, click on the links below:
The Guardian: ‘There is not enough food. The situation is dire’: Somalia’s drought crisis
Der Spiegel: With the World's Attention on Ukraine, Suffering Is Rising Elsewhere
Der Spiegel (pictures): Dürre und Hungersnot in Somalia: Nie wieder – hieß es vor zehn Jahren
NPO Radio 1 (Met Het Oog Op Morgen): Hongersnood dreigt voor miljoenen mensen in Hoorn van Afrika
VICE World News: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Is Putting Millions of Lives at Risk in Somalia
El País: Somalia se quiebra por la sequía histórica y la invasión rusa de Ucrania
NPO Radio 1 (Humberto): Droogte in Hoorn van Afrika, 500.000 Somaliërs ontheemd
Al Jazeera English: Drought in Somalia worsened by funding gap, Ukraine war
De Morgen: De vergeten hongersnood in Somalië. ‘Door de droogte zijn we alles kwijtgeraakt’
The New York Times: how the ongoing drought is affecting kids in Somalia
Trouw published a four page story I wrote about the drought in Somalia.
Dutch comedian Dolf Jansen showed some of my pictures in Dutch talkshow Khalid & Sophie.
Kenya's boda bodas: a blessing or a nuisance?
Now that platform companies such as Uber have embraced Nairobi's motor taxis, the Kenyan capital has seen a large proliferation of these 'boda bodas'. There are attempts to replace the millions of polluting motorbikes with electric ones, but not everyone is enthusiastic about these plans.
Read my latest for Het Financieele Dagblad (FD) by clicking on this link.
New work: a profile of Tanzanian fashion designer Makeke
“I have always been fascinated by the African way of life. I dreamed at night about how it used to be, about life in the village. That 'African way of life' is my greatest source of inspiration. I go to sleep with it and wake up with it. My friends only look at America. What is Drake doing, what clothes is Kanye West wearing.. But if you ask me, they all look alike. My work is a counter-reaction to the visual violence thrown over us from the West.”
For Dutch daily Trouw, I interviewed Tanzanian fashion designer Jocktan Cosmas Malule, in Dar Es Salaam better known as ‘Makeke’. To read the full piece (in Dutch), click here. To read the Spanish version of the profile that has been published by El País, click here.
New work for VPRO: do they have internet in Africa?
“I don’t even think they have internet [in Africa]”
“Maybe the phones over there are nothing more than a cardboard homescreen”
“They can’t even build many houses, let alone an internet transmitter mast”
“There probably isn’t any wifi”
“Maybe they don’t even have a phone”
The answers these children gave when they were asked about how they would imagine what the internet in ‘Africa’ would be like, say a lot about how Dutch people (and their kids) perceive the African continent.
Luckily, there are TV shows like VPRO's ‘De Dikke Data Show’ (about big fat data and the worldwide web). They asked me to tell something about how people in Kenya use internet.
And so I interviewed Nairobi-based Nahla, who follows online classes on her laptop (but also uses it to watch Minecraft videos), and Douglas, who lives near Oloitoktok with his cattle and reads the news and chats using his smartphone.
The video above is just a small snippet - to watch the whole episode of De Dikke Data Show (and also see how the internet is different in China), click or tap here.
My first DW contribution: a photo series about Saint-Louis, Senegal
Recently, my first contribution to Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany's international broadcaster was published. The ten-part photo series about how the Senegalese city of Saint-Louis is slowly disappearing into the sea can be watched on both their old and their new beta website.
Partos Innovation Festival: how create depth through adding multimedia layers
Partos, a branche organization for the development sector, asked me to share my experiences with adding multimedia layers for online storytelling. By showing some examples of my work, I gave a 15 minute talk during their ‘Innovation Festival’ in Amsterdam’s Pakhuis de Zwijger.
In my experience, working on multimedia stories for Dutch and international media outlets and non-profits alike, I found out that combining audio, video, text and photography for online versions of regular media outlets (like brochures, newsletters) can add depth to human stories.
During my short presentation (from around 5.30 in the video above), I explained a bit more about how I created multimedia stories for Trouw, The Guardian, NRC Handelsblad, El País and the Dutch Relief Alliance. To read all of these individual stories, go to joostbastmeijer.com/partos (or click on the screenshot below).
New work for Het Parool: a story about Amsterdam's gable stones
In the PS weekend magazine of Dutch daily Het Parool, you can read how I took on a rather peculiar assignment when I couldn’t travel back to our apartment in Kenya: Lieke asked me to photograph hundreds of Amsterdam’s ‘stone tablets’.
A bit more than a year ago, when COVID cases surged in The Netherlands, Lieke asked me to join her on a walk through a near empty Amsterdam – did I ever see these beautiful little pieces of art bricked into the walls of Amsterdam’s houses?
I must’ve cycled past them countless times, these so-called ‘gable stones’ showcasing ships, circus tents, angels and lovebirds. Could I photograph these tablets for her new Instagram account, Lieke asked? I decided that this could actually give my pointless lockdown walks some purpose, and said yes. My ‘gable stone safari’ had begun.
What I learnt from these little depictions filled with history, mystery and fantastic stories, often hidden in plain sight, can be read in a story I wrote for Het Parool. Click here to read the piece, or check out some of my photos over at Instagram: @stonetabletsofamsterdam!
Radio interview: live in NPO Radio 1's 'De Wereld van BNNVARA'
Radio host Stephan Komduur invited me to be his guest on De Wereld van BNNVARA radio programme, which was aired last Sunday evening from 8pm to 10pm. During the first hour, we touched on several subjects, one of them being my trip to Saint-Louis earlier this year. If you understand Dutch, you can check out a visual radio fragment below.
