To be a host in a hosting country 

Hospitality as empowerment in asylum seekers’ centers

Exhibition at Nieuwe Instituut, Open Space Gallery 3, Rotterdam
February 16th till June 16th 2024

In the project To be a host in a hosting country, designer Ilaria Palmieri works with a
self-developed method of spatial design. based on hospitality, as a tool for empowerment.
In Open Space she shows the results of her work in asylum seekers’ centres throughout the Netherlands, where she gives the temporary residents a say in the layout and design of the spaces in which they live. Her approach goes beyond ‘participation’: she strives for co-production in which the experiences of marginalised communities take the lead.

While migration is often discussed on a national or continental scale, this project delves into the everyday lives of migrants and how they navigate legal mechanisms and the forces of exclusion within the spaces where they find shelter, work and live. Ilaria introduced a participatory practice, The Art of Invitation, in various asylum seeker centres in the Netherlands, empowering participants with spatial agency in temporary structures far from home. The aim is to start a conversation, using whatever medium the participants prefer, to spark reflections on claiming a space in the centre by being a host. The workshop transforms these reflections into action, evaluating each context and empowering participants by encouraging activities they could take control of. This project challenges traditional notions of public and private space and offers a proposal for asylum seekers’ centres, introducing hospitality as a driver for spatial interventions.

images from the opening evening
credit @Giulia Menicucci