A shoot by NO LIMITS! ART CASTLE
Concept and execution by Simomo Bouj and Jan Hoek
Styling by JeanPaul Paula and Carly Everaert
Special thanks to all the models and interns
The suffering and excessive violence endured by the Palestinian population over the past seventy-five years has only recently become visible to much of the world. The latest aggression against the Palestinian people has sparked a wave of great urgency among artists and activists. Together, they are attempting to address the injustice, activating diverse subcultures – from crip to queer – to step out of their own bubbles and advocate for the Palestinian cause. This is not without risks: in many countries, structural efforts are being made to silence those who speak out.
We therefore want to do the opposite: highlight the artists and activists who continue to speak out despite feelings of powerlessness. Our courage and perseverance are a fraction compared to the Palestinian spirit of survival.
With the images from our collaborative project, we are raising money for The Rights Forum and Medical Aid For Palestinians. You can purchase the prints for 10€ at the Glamcult Store (online and irl).
Aiman is wearing a handmade metal jacket by Carly Everaert and chaps by ART’S Cow Parts
JeanPaula is wearing a vintage army set and a kufiya
On the left: Aiman Daw
Based in Haifa, Daw is a Palestinian fashion/costume designer, stylist, and actor. He collaborates with fellow Palestinian musicians, theatre, and television creators to strengthen the creative scene inside occupied Palestine.
Activism tip: Keep talking about Palestine and the ongoing genocide. Buy work from Palestinian artists and/or designers to support the Palestinian art industry.
On the right: JeanPaul Paula
Paula is a Curacaoan Dutch creative director, stylist, photographer, director, and performance artist who integrates intersectionality, gender-sexuality, anti-racism, and family into the core of his work.
Activism tip: Looking at Palestine as a prime example of neocolonialism, I urge whoever is reading this to broaden their view and make sure they look at the Congo, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Haiti the same way we are looking at Palestine now. All the little bits help, even supporting your local artists. My Kurdish sister Beri is one of these people whose work titled ‘Grief’ you can buy at Beri dal Gali. Also, follow @Wizard_bisan1 on Instagram.
Diana is wearing a traditional kufiya embroidered poncho, costume trousers by Carly Everaert, and a holding a sign by Carly Everaert
Sarjon is wearing a plastic garment by Sarah Nixon for Ondine HNT, and boots and scarf they designed
On the left:
Diana Al-Halabi
Through an intersectional feminist perspective, Lebanese artist and filmmaker Al-Halabi approaches post-colonial structures in her own light. Her latest project, The Battle of Empty Stomachs, sets the digestive system as a political battleground, exploring Palestinian famine and hunger strikes as a form of resistance.
Activism tip: We should avoid the hero narrative that divides people into “courageous enough to speak out” and “not courageous enough to speak out.” For those speaking up and falling apart from the mental pressure, I say rest, you are not alone, other people will take the lead. Rest without guilt; rest with anger at the coloniser. Guilt makes us fall, we need to stand up for Palestine.
On the right:
SARJON
SARJON is a Syrian artist who uses vanity as a research tool in identity politics. With a unique approach to world-building, they craft exaggerated narratives around different characters to illuminate the audience’s political agency through drag and performance.
Activism tip: If you don’t have time to physically protest yourself, pay travel costs for people who do but don’t have the money.
Rebecca is wearing a corset by Unlabeled Berlin and trousers from Everydays
Ahmad is wearing a blouse by Noor Design and trousers from Everydays
Susanne is wearing a kufiya made in Palestine, a set she designed, and holding her own olive-wooden sculpture titled “Yusef boys”
On the left:
Susanne Khalil Yusef
Growing up in five European countries as a child of Palestinian refugees, Yusef’s childhood inspired a commitment to researching her family’s Palestinian heritage. Through immersive, colourful installations, her work raises critical questions about homeland, displacement, and socio-geographic power relations.
Activism tip: Be in solidarity with all oppressed and indigenous peoples striving for freedom and work towards a world free from colonial violence. Free Free Palestine!
Centre: Rebecca Lillich / Krüger
Lillich / Krüger is a performance artist from the United States who uses surrealism to insist on making a new world through the relentless force of the body. In 2023, she premiered I came to the crowd to weep at the opening of Ahmad Mallah’s Protest at No Limits! Art Castle; a performative act about shared grief through gesture and costume.
Activism tip: Hydrate, have difficult conversations with your friends and family, and don’t let oppressive assumptions slide. Remember that despair is a tool of oppression, and imagination is integral to resistance.
On the right: Ahmad Mallah
Born and raised in Syria, Palestinian creative Ahmad Mallah reflects on his own story of statelessness through an interdisciplinary approach that explores themes of war, diaspora, gender, and identity. Deciphering the entanglement between belonging and the existential self.
Activism tip: Mallah is organising a fundraiser for the PCRF, the Palestinian child relief fund, by selling portraits from his series Lost and never found.
Maurits is wearing a jacket by Print for Palestine, top and bermuda shorts by Maxivive, and trousers by Issey Miyake
Menko is wearing a harness and trousers that he designed.
On the left: Maurits de Bruijn
Dutch Jewish author de Bruijn interweaves the personal with the political. According to Maurits, one genocide is used to justify another. As the son of a Holocaust survivor who also grieved the loss of four family members, de Bruijn refuses to stand by and let the legacy of his family be instrumentalised to condone the mass slaughter of Palestinians.
Activism tip: To avoid the spread of misinformation or information tainted by the West’s subjectivity, we must be mindful of the media we consume and the sources we use. You can look up Jewish Currents, Al Jazeera or +972 Magazine to learn about the genocide from more objective news sources.
On the right: Menko Dijksterhuis
Dijksterhuis is a Dutch, cripqueer multidisciplinary artist and disability justice advocate. He is involved in CripTheCurriculum (CtC), an educational platform dismantling ableist structures. As sick, crip, chronically ill, and disabled people, we know what it means to be left behind in evacuations. We cannot comprehend the suffering of those left behind and condemned to death by the inaction of the international community.
Activism tip: A small way to help is by clicking daily on click-to-help-palestine, so you’ll be able to provide the advertising profits to go to UNRWA.
Clementine is wearing a corset by Diablo, an original Palestinian thobe with Tatreetz embroidery, showcasing a GIRL power flag by Taring Padi
Rochelle is wearing a “From the river to the sea” poncho by Carly Everaert and a bag from Zeitz MOCAA worn as a hat
On the left:
Clementine Willow
Clementine Willow is a queer Dutch disabled erotic performer trying to make queer nightlife more accessible for disabled people and states that activism should be an essential part of being an artist. Tree* made a performance where tree hung treeself on a cross covered with the colours of the Palestinian flag with the words “land back”.
Activism tip: Take responsibility, especially as a white person, and show up.
* Tree is used here as a pronoun.
On the right:
Rochelle van Maanen
Van Maanen is an Indonesian/Dutch educator who focuses on the Netherlands’ colonial history, specifically within Indonesia. As the co- founder of the Decolonization Network (DNVNI), she aims to raise awareness of colonialism and the Indonesian archipelago.
Activism tip: We need to be conscious that without connecting all the struggles, there is no liberation. We need to organise together so we can make a more significant impact. There’s strength in numbers.
All clothing is by Print for Palestine – ACAB shirt designed by Leonie Edel and Free Palestine flower design designed by Carol Ranko
Simomo is wearing a shirt by Susanne Khalil Yusef, a corset by Lynn van Hal, vintage trousers and kilt, and holding signs made by Carly Everaert
On the left:
Emma Fijma
Dutch graphic designer Emma Fijma is the founder of the screen-printing creative collective Print for Palestine. Through various events and workshops, this collective utilises the power of prints to raise money and support for Palestine in collaboration with various artists.
Activism tip: You can help out by getting one of the shirts they made, which you can find on instagram: @printforpalestine_nl. All raised money goes to MAP, Medical Aid for Palestinians.
On the right:
Simomo Bouj
Moroccan/Belgian dancer, choreographer, and curator Simomo Bouj moves to be moved. As the vice-director of No Limits! Art Castle, he utilises art to cultivate freedom within an industry that often pushes “othered” creators to the margins.
Activism tip: Avoid isolating yourself and doomscrolling through distressing news about the ongoing genocide. Instead, participate in a protest near you and witness people from diverse backgrounds marching alongside you. Acknowledge the enduring resilience and happiness that still persists in the hearts of the Palestinians despite tragedy.
Moktar is wearing a costume garment by Carly Everaert, a shirt by Print for Palestine and a hat by Baba boys
Susanne Khalil Yusef– see above
On the left:
Moktar Nabil
The Dutch Co-founder of Amsterdam clubs Garage Noord and kanaal40, Nabil believes nightlife is inherently political and has made it his mission to create spaces for justice within the scene.
Activism tip: Check out Baba Boys for I ❤️ Palestine gear made in collaboration with kanaal40 to raise money for Palestine.
On the right:
Sarjon– see above
QAQ is wearing a costume piece by Carly Everaert, and a Palestinian football shirt, “Amar Shah”
Carly is wearing their own clothes including self-customised shoes and a personal button collection
Tina is wearing a jacket and t-shirt by Print for Palestine and a vintage beret
On the left: QAQ
A Jerusalemite, QAQ uses rap to explore themes of diaspora and liberation; seeking to bring his Palestinian identity to the forefront without tokenising the Palestinian experience.
Activism tip: Find a way to organise and unify the Palestinian movement more consistently. We have done a lot of proving to show we are human and innocent; now, let’s organise.
Centre: Carly Everaert
Through the medium of theatre costumes, queer Dutch designer Everaert researches the intersections of other(ed) bodies. They have given workshops with Ayyam Al Masrah, a non-profit theatre organisation based in Gaza.
Activism tip: Help support Ayyam Al Masrah staff so they can continue to teach Palestinian children the art of drama.
On the right: Tina Farifteh
Everything is interconnected in the work of Iranian/Dutch visual artist Tina Farifteh. In her work she explores the relationships between humans, images, words, and behaviour. In her short film ‘Kitten of Refugee?’ she questions why we are empathetic towards some and indifferent or even cruel towards others. In the interactive installation ‘i and you’, she researches what it means to engage in a dialogue at a time of dehumanisation and oppression and extreme violence.
Activism tip: Do something and do it your way: radical and disruptive, gentle and incremental. It’s all good, as long as you don’t look away. In the meantime, reflect and try not to become what you are fighting against. You have more allies than you think. Find them. Work with them. Now and then, ask each other, ‘How are you doing?’
