World Photography Day: a day that we at Wereldmuseum highlight to inspire and be inspired. We celebrate the stories told through photography. Look through the lens of the 10 winners of our photo competition.
Header photo: Sethi Djegane Gueye - Dakar 2021
Ranking: last name in alphabetical order.
Wereldmuseum called upon (hobby) photographers to participate in the 2025 photo contest. For Wereldmuseum, global citizenship means being curious about the world around you, being open to different perspectives, and approaching others with an open mind and empathy. In this article, you can read the interpretations of 10 impressive photographers about what global citizenship means to them. The beautiful and difficult stories about being a global citizen.
Khalid Abdou (23 years old, Amsterdam): ''During my solo trip through Hong Kong in 2024, I was overwhelmed by the busyness of the city. Everyone seemed to be in their own world. Until I saw this group of men, completely absorbed in a board game called Xiangqi, Chinese chess. Without words, but with shared attention, I watched for hours. I didn't understand the game, but I felt unexpectedly connected. This moment taught me that global citizenship sometimes starts with simply standing still, being observant, and being open to the world of another.''
Follow Khalid on Instagram: @khalidmabdou
Sing Dekker: ''In a time of war, violence, and hatred. With less tolerance and social hardening. Fortunately, there are also glimmers of hope. Moments when people show their best side. This was such a moment during the Rock 'n Ramps festival in 2025. A young Muslim woman is spontaneously carried on people's hands during her first time crowd surfing. It may seem wild, but this happened with care, attention, and respect. This was about having fun and enjoying each other's company. A highlight of genuine connection!"''
Follow Sing on Instagram: @singdekker
Chris den Engelsman: ''My grandparents' house had various decorative objects from the Dutch East Indies. A kris with a handle decorated with a man's head and a wooden portrait of a young woman wearing a headdress. The portrait of the woman now adorns my bookcase, and I have enjoyed looking at it for more than fifty years. My interest in Asia undoubtedly began with this statuette. My grandfather received the portrait as a gift from his younger brother, Cor, who was stationed in the Dutch East Indies as a soldier before World War II. He spent the war as a prisoner of war in a concentration camp in the Dutch East Indies and as a forced laborer on the infamous Burma Railway in Thailand and Myanmar. After returning to the Netherlands, he was allowed a few months to recover and was then sent back to the Dutch East Indies as part of the police actions.
This is the information I received from my grandfather, with the explicit request never to discuss it with Uncle Cor himself. Unfortunately, I never did. When I look at the Indonesian woman in my bookcase, I always think of Uncle Cor's life in the Dutch East Indies and Southeast Asia, which is unknown to me. To call it airport art would certainly be an understatement. It is a beautiful, elegant piece of wood carving, probably mass-produced. It is stained in a dark color, through which the lighter wood sometimes shines through. Because of the stories and mysteries surrounding this woman's head, it symbolizes an unknown part of my family history. I do not know what the original meaning of the woman's head is, other than a souvenir. But during her 70 to 80 years in the Netherlands, she has also acquired a new meaning. In this way, a lifeless object becomes part of a living history. When things become dreams. Is it my imagination, or is Uncle Cors' statue now looking down on my desk with a gentle smile?''
Photography in collaboration with Godfried van Utrecht.
Sethi Djegane Gueye: ''The photo captures a young boy on the move in Dakar, Senegal. We were at a well-known fish market near the Mosque de la Divinité. It was Ramadan, and the elders were busy preparing fish. The boy in the photo considered his role just as important, as he rushed between the traditional fishing boats toward the sea to fetch water to clean the fish.''
Shot on film, using a Mamiya 645 with Lomography 100 film
Follow Sethi on Instagram: @sethidg
Tamara Hartman: ''The sari keffiyeh is a garment that conveys a shared history of oppression, and with it, it's a reminder that we, as Hindostani people, must speak out for exactly this reason. And that we must not only speak out about “our” ancestors, but about all ancestors who have suffered under colonialism.
The sari is intended to be worn by activists, and the money Joemai earns from it goes to grassroots initiatives in Gaza. "I can't always express myself well in words when it comes to social justice, but a political statement can also be made with clothing.''
Creditlist:
Threads of Us (a poem stitched through Europe, Asia, and Africa)
Hung in quiet lines,
our clothes speak without voices.
Worn hems, fresh folds, borrowed shapes.
They carry histories stitched in silence.
Some garments hold decades,
soft with memory and time.
Others are few, hastily packed,
witness to escape and beginning.
We all wear something.
We all dry what we've worn.
In fabric, we are different.
In need, in ritual, in humanity,
we are the same.
A global wardrobe,
strung across borders and balconies.
This is how we live.
This is how we belong.
Follow Monsieur Lafayette on Instagram: @dr.monsieurlafayette
Rosa van der Linden (27 years old, Amsterdam): '"For me, global citizenship means looking with curiosity at what different physical spaces reveal about history, the future, and identity. In Imsouane, a coastal town in Morocco, I was struck by a distinct, elusive visual language: artistic buildings with shapes and colors that seem both random and deliberate. Imsouane is in a transitional phase, between the recent, unannounced demolition actions by the municipality and the emergence of remarkable new buildings. In my view, this creates a beautiful aesthetic: a tension between loss and progress, intention and randomness. The photo shows a space that tells the story of the memory, development, and redefinition of Imsouane, and of places all over the world.''
Xaveer May: ''After 20 years of absence from Suriname, I reconnected with my motherland. A country that feels like home to many was, for me, completely foreign. Vague memories of places I only know from family photos, and a feeling of nostalgia for a place I never really knew. It is difficult to understand why I feel this way, alienated from the world of my ancestors.
These photos tell a story of recognition: of my past, my roots, and my community. A story that I hope to understand better by capturing it in images.''
Follow Xaveer on Instagram: xaveer.may
Boudie Rijkschroeff: ''With the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Dutch people from Indonesia, Indonesian cuisine continued to develop in the Netherlands. Dishes such as gado gado, rendang, and sajur lodeh are now well established in the Netherlands.
Indonesian chefs in the Netherlands are giving a new twist to Indonesian cuisine in 2025. For example, Indonesian chef Titi Waber presents a sajur lodeh dish based on French cuisine in her restaurant.''
Albert Stevanus:''During my expedition to the Mentawai Islands, I had the rare chance to witness and document the lives of the Sikerei, traditional shamans who embody deep spiritual ties with nature. One photo captures the Turuk Langgai dance, where movements imitate animals, reflecting harmony with the environment and cultural wisdom passed through generations. The second and third image features two Sikerei by a waterfall—symbols of resilience amid a declining tradition. Few young people choose this path today due to its many taboos. Through these photos, I hope to spark curiosity, respect, and a renewed appreciation for this living heritage.''
Stay in touch with Albert via Instagram: albert.stevanus.official.
Be inspired by 10 photos from our collection that show global citizenship.
