After the Flood, the Escape (2009)
After the Flood, the Escape. New Orleans – the city of emigration
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane ‘Katrina’ hit New Orleans, flooding numerous neighborhoods. Over 1,836 people died, and 1.3 million fled the city and its surroundings. To this day, only half of the original residents have returned to New Orleans.<br><br>In a special exhibition, the German Emigration Center showcased the aspects of internal migration through the example of New Orleans in 2009. From the perspective of those who returned and those who stayed, this exhibition looked at a city that had been abandoned. Installation, film documentation, and the exhibition formed an intellectual, sensitive, and emotional approach to a highly relevant topic within this unique concept.<br><br>The German Emigration Center brought the installation ‘Floodwall’ by artist Jana Napoli, which had already been shown in New York and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Bremerhaven. In the deserted city, Jana Napoli collected drawers filled with memories from homes, office towers, and businesses two months after ‘Hurricane Katrina.’ From these hundreds of mementos of the city’s displaced residents, her installation ‘Floodwall’ emerged.
Exhibition view ‘After the Flood, the Escape. New Orleans – the city of emigration’