VIA PANAM - A 40 WEEK JOURNEY EXPLORING MIGRATION IN THE AMERICAS

Why do people migrate? Where to and for what reasons? What is the fate of the different indigenous populations in the Americas? In Via PanAm, Kadir van Lohuizen investigates the roots of migration in the Americas, a phenomenon which is as old as humanity but is increasingly portrayed as a new threat to the Western world.

Via PanAm follows Van Lohuizen’s footsteps from the very south of Chile to the very north of Alaska. Travelling almost 40,000 km along the Pan-American Highway and crossing through 15 countries, Van Lohuizen visualized the stories of the communities, regions and societies he encountered. His work reflects a diverse range of migration experiences both historic and contemporary. The photo stories reflect the complexity of migration – the diverse motivations for coming and going, the struggles and successes, the economic, political, social and environmental contexts, as well as the intimate moments and personal stories - some touching upon current issues, some on topics long forgotten but not resolved.

Website and iPad app
Via PanAm engages the audience through a variety of platforms, using both traditional and new media. The stories made on the road were edited into weekly radio broadcasts, biweekly newspaper columns and regular magazine publications. The Via PanAm website and iApp not only provide contextual background info, but also directly connected readers and viewers with the journey’s progress. Day by day, the Americas and their people revealed themselves to the photographer and his followers as photo-stories, video and audio were uploaded on a regular basis.
The app, which can be purchased in the App Store, is available in English and Dutch, and soon also in Spanish.

Book and exhibition
The Via PanAm exhibition is a combination of an audio-visual installation and a series of large prints plus iPads showing the app. Together they form a spatial environment in which multimedia photostories and road videos immerse the audience in the surroundings and stories of the project. The exhibition launched in CHile in January 2013, and will travel to several venues in Europe and (Latin) America afterwards.

The publication (to be launched Autumn 2013) takes the reader along through the changing landscapes of the countries travelled and zooms in on the lives of the people Van Lohuizen portrayed. Their stories show their strength and their vulnerability, the variety of motivations they have, the roads they travel and the (often informal) infrastructures they enter into.

Awards
Nominated for the Canon Zilveren Camera Award 2012

Nominated for the Dutch Doc Award 2013
The project, along with the other 5 nominees, can be seen in an exhibition in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam until June 9th, 2013. Winner to be announced on June 5, 2013.