The Josefa House has existed since 2015 in Brussels, somewhere in Ixelles...
Josefa, a house open to the city, a link between our free or forced migrations, offers a co-residence space for some, a cultural or spiritual exchange space for others. Migrants, all of us, we can all cross its threshold.
Therefore, Josefa is a political and societal proposal, following an approach that is meant to be holistic (social, economic, cultural and spiritual), and at the same time an operational, proactive, experimental space, in accordance with its housing environment and related proposals.
So why consider a second Josefa House? It is worth mentioning the initial, statutory intention, back in 2011, which was to spread the Josefa vision across Belgium and into Europe. In fact, today, the idea is not trying to open a Josefa number 2, then 3..., but rather expressing the will to share the progress made, to make the Josefa spirit live, breathe, with new faces, new routes.
The Josefa House: a space of freedoms, where the only requirement is to agree on the unexpected aspect of the present day and to take advantage of our migratory routes, as co-residents or as passers-by.
Thus, in order to open up to this new way, it would be good if some, along the way or by the wayside, got in touch with us. If several of us get together and make for new horizons, along the Josefa ridge line ("migrants, all of us" and holistic approach: social, economic, cultural and spiritual), the purpose will become clearer as we exchange views.
Of course, everything remains to be thought through, to be reimagined, based on the adventures that we have experienced since 2011: what kind of new House, for what kind of new future? At once, the same one, and at the same time, a quite different one!
The foundation of the Josefa House has to be able to echo once again with the sound of our migrations, of new migrations: thus, no political program or operating course dictated by some subsidising powers or by philanthropic privileges will be allowed. It is just a desire today to continue what was initiated in 2011, since the current situation tends to lead everyone to question a little more the "migrant – non migrant" and "religious – unbeliever" dichotomies.
What will the new Josefa space look like on the cultural, spiritual, social and economic levels?
It is up to you, up to us, migrants, all of us, to take part in it, and to build it together.
