I peep through a porthole over Hamburg harbour just as many migrants must have done when they left for the New World over a century ago. But unlike the migrants I am on dry land in my cabin-inspired room in the Hotel Hafen Hamburg, previously a seafarers' home. The hotel is decked out with seafaring … Continue reading A town within a town -Ballinstadt Emigration Museum in Hamburg
A Warli Painter came to Stay
“Can you do a painting of my life,” I ask Ramesh. Ramesh Hengadi is a Warli painter from India, an artist-in-residence at the V&A Museum of Childhood and a guest in my home. I have always loved Warli painting – those spindly white figures painted in rice paste with a bamboo twig on a cow … Continue reading A Warli Painter came to Stay
Louisiana, Libeskind’s Labyrinth and the Jews’ escape across the Sound
I meander through a maze of narrow, winding passages framed by walls of huge grey slabs. They entrap me; slope and slice across my path; disorientate me. There is no mistaking the architecture. It has to be Libeskind. The design is a miniature version of the Jewish Museum in Berlin but encased in the old … Continue reading Louisiana, Libeskind’s Labyrinth and the Jews’ escape across the Sound
An Easter remembered
About a decade ago I spent a few days in Murcia over Easter - candle lit processions with haunting gypsy voices piercing the dark; hooded fingers carrying wooden sculptures telling the Easter story. Then the joy of Easter Sunday, rebirth. Then the Spring Festival. Farmers paraded their animals and showed off their agricultural prowess; young … Continue reading An Easter remembered
Church bells yes but not the Muslim call to prayer
I walk past a bland housing estate and through a tidy shopping mall. There are no Turkish kebab shops or Indian curry houses; no Vietnamese mail parlours or black hair dressers. Why would an Immigration Museum be housed in this unremarkable part of Denmark? The town of Farum, a 30-minute train ride from Copenhagen, is … Continue reading Church bells yes but not the Muslim call to prayer
Travelling Vicariously – child migrant journeys
In the last few months I have travelled on an open sailing boat from Vietnam to Singapore, by jumbo jet from El Salvador to London and by foot, through the jungle, from Rwanda to the Congo. In my mind at least. The experiences of child migrants who have shared their stories with me have infiltrated … Continue reading Travelling Vicariously – child migrant journeys
Venice Carnival Veiled in Mist
I join my fellow passengers in the hold of the Vaporetto. The sea is rough and the vessel shakes and shudders towards the city. Seagulls squawk from the top of timbers jutting out of the waves and fly off into swirling mists. We can’t see more than five foot ahead of us. I embark at … Continue reading Venice Carnival Veiled in Mist
Becoming a Copenhager or Don’t Leave me Alone with the Danes
I caught Becoming a Copenhager just days before the Museum of Copenhagen closed its doors in preparation for its relocation to a refurbished building in the city centre. I liked the idea. An exhibition about internal migration from the countryside to the capital as well as from abroad: that explored what unites rather than divides … Continue reading Becoming a Copenhager or Don’t Leave me Alone with the Danes
Following in the steps of my Russian literary heroes
I set out to find traces of my literary heroes in the streets of Moscow. First stop, near Park Kultury, is Tolstoy’ town house, turned museum on Lenin’s orders in 1921. This attractive wooden house has changed little since the Tolstoy family spent their winters here between 1829 and 1910. Summers were spent on Tolstoy’s … Continue reading Following in the steps of my Russian literary heroes
The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow
I have a choice. Either to go to the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art or the Tretyakov Gallery of Russian Art. I decide on the latter. I like to see the art of a country I am visiting, to gain an insight into its culture, history and politics. I will have to go forego … Continue reading The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow
Eithne Nightingale 