DESCRIPTION
Their stories are numerous, some similar and others flavored by particular struggles in specific sites of discontent. Overall, their attitudes are of stubborn resilience, hope, and survival in environments desperate for their labor but resentful of their presence. With over 100 photographs and videos from Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Czech and Britain, the exhibition, organized by NYU's Africana Studies Department, follows some remarkably resilient immigrants on their sojourn on makeshift uncertain, intermittently powered fishing boats from West Africa, through the rigors of European immigration control, into the Interstices of European society. These works of art are created by award winning photographers, photo-journalists, and human rights activists all over Europe including Juan Medina (Spain), Alfredo Muñoz de Oliveira (Portugal), Francesco Coco, Angelo May, Elisa Cozzarini, Marco Ambrosi, Matthew Danesin, Aldo Sodoma and Stefano Renna (Italy). Also included are selected photos courtesy of agency Frame (Milan) and AGNfoto (Naples).
The title "They Will not Budge" is derived from Salif Keita's song "We Will not Budge" and adopted by Mantha Diawara Celebrated as the title of his book. The exhibition is divided into 6 themes: Passages, Work, Defiance, Religion, Spaces, and Portraits. The exhibition also consists of installations of African migrants and working artists, antiracist campaigns and protest songs that illustrated the Civic organizations and advocacies of Africans in Europe.