ONE DAY I’M GONNA MAKE IT 

Exhibition / audio-visual installation / publication / talkshow / education


Karine Versluis travelled to Lagos where she met a number of young women who had come from Eastern Nigeria to Lagos to start a new life for themselves. Some of these women dreamed of going further, having heard such good stories about going to Europe. Back in the Netherlands, Versluis interviewed people from West Africa, among them Nigerian women who had ventured to realise their dream of coming to Europe. How did things turn out for them? What did they encounter? How do they look back on their experience? And what is their advice to the dreaming girls of Lagos? 

Dreaming about what your life will be like in a few year’s time - we all know the feeling. A nice house, a loving partner, a good income, a family, a good job. Or perhaps living abroad, on an adventure around the world and developing your talents. Who knows? What do you need to realise those dreams? What risks do you need to take? To what extent are those dreams compatible with reality?

In One Day I’m Going to Make It, photographic images come to life through audio fragments in which various women talk about their lives and the choices that helped them get to where they are now. 

PUBLICATION
Leporello

EXHIBITION — Podium Mozaiek. Amsterdam Storytelling Festival, Amsterdam. 2019 — Encontros Da Imagem Festival, Braga (PT). 2015 — Lagos Photo, Lagos (NG). 2014 — African Study Centre/ Leiden University, Leiden. 2014   — Humanity House, Den Haag. 2013
 
EDUCATION
The audience was asked to write down their dreams and goals in life as a (participatory) part of the exhibition.

PRESS
— Blog about Converging Visions on FOTODOK website
— One Day I'm Gonna Make It, Focus Magazine 
— Look At You. Radio interview VPRO Buitenland
— Haags Straatnieuws 

CREDITS
Concept and research Karine Versluis
Photography, text, audio interviews Karine Versluis
Graphic Design and exhibition lay-out: Anne Miltenburg
Translation Isabella Rozendaal
Audio installation Mike Roelofs
Coaching Femke Lutgerink
Partners Humanity House, Invisible Borders Trans-African Photographers Organisation, The Converging Visions Project, FOTODOK
Financially supported by Mondriaan Fund, Humanity House