Iric Chun Watson - Broken Dutch

Broken Dutch is an independent art project consisting of portrait photographs combined with text, a concept conceived during a nationalisation programme in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam arrivals
The exhibition follows the progress of newcomers to the city (and country), how they get along learning the language and generally finding their feet in Amsterdam. It explores both the bitter and the sweet of picking up a new language in a foreign country. Iric Chun Watson, the artist behind the project, is a true insider amongst these Amsterdammers-to-be.

Overcoming language barriers
Portrait photos in the gallery are supplemented by Dutch text, partially translated into English. The texts are extremely direct, in the form of questions and answers. All translated dialogue has been corrected in red pen, reminiscent of school texts.

International representation
The photographed subjects, who were also interviewed, hail from nine different countries. They met for the first time at the nationalisation course where they were faced with new people and a new language in a new city.

Broken Dutch runs at Amsterdam's Public Library from 4 February to 31 March 2010.