Cher(e)s résident(e)s de la Maison Josefa,

En cette journée, je quitte la Maison Josefa, emportant avec moi les souvenirs précieux que nous avons partagés. Il y en a parmi vous qui sont devenus des amis véritables et je suis reconnaissant pour ces moments chaleureux.

Interested in exploring the notions of collectiveness and inhabitation breaking away from its traditional paths that are often dictated by homogeneity and monetary criteria, I came to encounter Josefa. A place that I view and recognize as one positioning and reflecting on our existence as being all migrants settling in the world as passers-by with unique identities and thereby considering inhabitation besides a solely functional and material side.

Bernard,

I learned that you would never again return to the Josefa House where you were staying, on March 21, 2023, the day of spring, the day when the living comes back to visit us to let us know, by this recurrence, by its frequent incursions into our lives, that it is eternal.

"May He who is perhaps dilate the heart of man to the measure of all life".

L’Oeuvre au noir (1968); Marguerite Yourcenar

There are moments when I feel sedentary. Moments with well-defined edges. These are often the ones that give rise to souvenir photos, images that can be shared... 

Some things change - some things stay the same, ...

This sentence was written in a brochure of a company I worked for some years ago. For me, it had a lot of truth in it and it still resonates today... 

My exchange experience in Belgium is undeniably marked by my residency at the Josefa Foundation, which represents a renewed approach to migratory phenomena, assertively positioning itself against the often stigmatised and tendentiously homogenising perception...