Fotomuseum aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht presents an exhibition by Dutch photographer and media personality Humberto Tan from 23 September 2023 until 17 March 2024. With ‘Tomorrow will be better’, the museum shows an impressive selection of close-up portraits of 100-year-olds and photos of their hands and interior. The nostalgic black and white photography is accompanied by inspiring, explanatory interviews.
For over three years, Humberto Tan traveled across the country to photograph more than a hundred people aged 100 and older. During the subsequent conversations, the passionate photographer asked them four of the same questions of life about their happiness, fears, life lessons, and dreams for the future. He also asked for a health tip.
The result is a beautiful collection of photographs and interviews, which are sometimes piercing, emotional, cheerful or sad. And mostly they are all of those at the same time. It shows an intriguing time image of the past century, and provides surprisingly mixed insights thanks to in total ten thousand years of life experience. The triptychs and interviews have been bundled in a stylish, 408-page coffee table book ‘Morgen gaat het beter’.
Humberto Tan believes in the power of the elderly, and has been fascinated by this group for years. ‘Tomorrow will be better’, after a 1939 Willy Derby song, ties in with the common thread Tan began to discover during his conversations. In addition to the wisdom, energy and vitality of the centenarians, he was struck by the infinite optimism to keep looking ahead. Happiness is in the little moments, shared often with family and friends, that make life worth living.
The exhibition is supported by videos, a multimedia presentation, and audio tours for adults and children. Fotomuseum aan het Vrijthof is organizing a side program with a talk show, master classes, artist talks, and school activities in which young and older people meet. A documentary has been made in collaboration with Cinetree. The guest curator is international exhibition maker Anke Degenhard.
Humberto Tan (Paramaribo, 1965) is a television and radio presenter, sports journalist, writer and photographer. He completed a law degree in Amsterdam. In 2016 Tan was the winner of the first edition of the television program ‘Het Perfecte Plaatje’ with publication of his photos in magazine National Geographic. As an ambassador for the Netherlands Red Cross and the World Wildlife Fund, he has made photo reports in Bangladesh, Rwanda and Brazil. Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle presented the exhibition ‘Poor but Proud’ in 2017-2018.
23 september 2023 – 17 March 2024
www.fotomuseumaanhetvrijthof.nl
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