Ayman RamadanHome.htmlHome.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0

Stories from Noord

On residency at Mediamatic, Amsterdam

2010



Amsterdam Noord is a city of bicycles, but  I spend most of my time here walking. I walk to get to know the city, and as I walk I collect the traces

of the lives that are going on around me…the traces of memories, of conversations, of relationships. I collect the detritus on the streets for

the same reason that I observe people’s conversations, and ask them questions about their lives: to collect and preserve the memories of a

place that I don’t belong to.


Story 1: Crossing the Water

Story 2: Miscommunication

Story 3: Biking and the Kindness of Strangers

Story 4: Cultural Misunderstanding

Story 5: Smells

Story 6: The Bike Thief

Story 7: Art is for Girls

Story 8: This One’s on Me

Story 9: Kindergarten

Story 10: Little Dog, Big Bite


    I was walking, stoned, through my favorite park when a little Chihuahua dog started to chase me.

    It chased me, snarling and yapping, for a couple of blocks as I tried valiantly to resist the urge to break its little neck, and just walked away.

    Amazingly, the little dog’s owner calmly stayed where she was, chatting with a friend and drinking a beer, smilingly observing the whole situation.


Story 11: Talking in Arabic