Tip: If you only knew | Çiğdem Yüksel | Fotomuseum Rotterdam

Yüksel is recording an interview

Starting in the late 1960s, the first women from Turkey came to the Netherlands to build new lives here. What did those lives look like? We know very little about them. The exhibition “Je moest eens weten” and the eponymous publication by photographer and artist Çiğdem Yüksel, tell the stories of these women using the oral history method and show powerful images of women on motorcycles, in family settings, in factories and demonstrating: tough and inspiring, but also vulnerable and tender.

‘Sprekende geschiedenis’ made an important contribution to the book with the chapter “From Turkey to the Netherlands,” a historical context describing the arrival of the first generation of women starting in 1964. The book is available in no less than three languages: Dutch (Je moest eens weten) , English (If you only knew) and Turkish (Bir bilsen).

More information about the book ‘Je moest eens weten’ can be found here.

In addition, the exhibition is on view at the Fotomuseum Rotterdam until May 25, 2025.