Solidarity Through Art: Palestinian Stories
Entrance is free but you need a registration.
We witness, with alarm, the devastation and immeasurable human suffering resulting from the relentless bombings against innocent people in Gaza. We call for the immediate upholding of universal human rights and call for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages to prevent further loss of life. Click here to read our statement.
Our fall and winter programming reflects on the war in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories. On Friday Nov 24 at 8 pm, Felix will host an event dedicated to showcasing diverse stories of the Palestinian community and their fight for liberation. Through film, music and performance, this evening hopes to provide a sense of connection and solidarity. Entrance to this event is free of charge, but RSVP is required in order to enter.
There will be an opportunity to donate directly to funds dedicated to the Palestinian cause.
Artwork credits to Imad Abu Shtayyah
The story of an olive tree in a whirlpool
“Handala” an anonymous person, with his hands connected behind his back standing next to the olive tree and looking at the vastness of the horizons. But it is not a typical Rückenfigur as one might think. It is not a man standing in front of a foggy but open plain with endless possibilities to choose from. With countless adventures awaiting ahead this human is longing for a return to the place where his foundation was uprooted.
With the poetic language portrayed through wide-angled shots, the mysticism of a landscape, an olive tree travels along with “Handala”. The tree is potted and learns to adapt to the Dutch weather conditions. It can thrive, but it will never spread its roots in the confined pot. The tree as well as the human needs soil, a place to grow, a place to call home.
Along the journey through 4 countries, different Palestinians were given the space to tell their side of the story. By answering existential questions, and trying to define the feeling of home from different perspectives. We dive through the emotions and resilience of the people as a way to see how the Palestinian identity was shaped throughout the years. To document, to preserve, and to decolonize the narrative of the indigenous people.
This film was made through a period of a year and a half of production, it was made with zero expenses, without budget or financial support, and created by the people, with the people, for the people
About the artist
Mohammad Abou Chair, is a Palestinian/Dutch Artist born in Damascus, Syria, as a stateless refugee, from a Lebanese mother and a Palestinian father, he lived 28 years of his life without papers, 25 of them without basic human rights.
This chaos of identities is what motivated Mohammad to follow an identity-based practice in film. He graduated with a master degree in fine arts and design from St. Joost/MIVC, the Netherlands, and with a bachelor degree in graphic design and visual communication from AUCE, Lebanon
I came to this world, without identity or nationality, in the first second of my life and I was stripped of all kinds of rights, except for basic education. For years, I dragged a suitcase of life experiences behind me and learned daily.
I’m curious about the other as much as I‘m curious about myself, I walk around the streets and my thoughts, trying to find creative ways to help change my surroundings, mixing fiction with reality and presenting what lies in between.
I engage with people like me who never had the chance to be heard and recreate a visual narrative that will impact the viewers’ experience. By doing that, I aim to create this ripple of goodness around us. I dive with my viewers on an emotional journey by answering questions of identity, origins, and existence, while questioning the answers themselves. In a world where a lie travels faster than the truth, I aspire to build a network that can be based on raw honest materials by the people themselves.