Freeze, Asian Archive documents the immigrant neighbourhood stretching from West Kruisplein to Mathenesserplein in Rotterdam. Starting from the East Asian shops and restaurants often known as Rotterdam’s Chinatown, this 2.3 km street extends into a mix of Asian and other non-European grocery stores, restaurants, small businesses, and third spaces, representing communities from East, South, Southeast, and West Asia, as well as South America, Africa, and former Dutch colonies. Immigrants often carry with them an image of home from the time they left. As they recreate these spaces abroad, they become time capsules where the past is preserved through visually through the interiors and sonically through the music playing inside. In November 2025, I walked this street and recorded the music playing in different Asian and Non-European grocery stores and restaurants. This soundwalk is a homage to the moments of time that remain frozen through migration and displacement.

Bio:

Avita Maheen (aka two4.41139) is a Bangladeshi sound, performance, media artist, writer, and curator based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Her practice is centered on sound, memory and she authored the framework titled the embryonic desire, with autoethnographic research on personal and urban influences of globalization in post-millenium Bangladeshi urban music culture. Maheen is the founder of Kalponik Rekha and Chaya Chobi, platforms for South Asian experimental sound art and ambient cinema, and is a guest Adjunct Faculty at Pathshala South Asian Media Institute.