remembering the al-Mishal Cultural Centre in Gaza City
work in progress
www.hansovervliet.com
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DISTANT SUFFERING #XIX | dissection of a disappearing cloud difference and repetition #2 work in progress | 2018 - 20 . . REMEMBERING THE SAID AL-MISHAL CULTURAL CENTRE GAZA CITY OBLITERATED BY THE ISRAELIAN DEFENCE FORCE ON AUGUST 9, 2018 cover: set up in the studio on May 30, 2023 photo courtesy of ©2023Giel Louws
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Without memory there is no limit to radical evil Hannah Arendt An object that tells of loss, destruction, disappearance of objects. Does not speak of itself. Tells of others. Will it include them? Jasper Johns Quoted in Susan Sontag | On Photography
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content | last update on Saturday, 25 November 2023 Presentation of the work
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Primal version
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Individual works / selection
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Background
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DISTANT SUFFERING / the project
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Acknowledgement individual works
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Music
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Acknowledgement
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presentation ‘poster block’ version Apart from the numerous presentations of single pieces, diptychs and triptychs of the work in different exhibitions, I also made a version a version covering the entire project
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studio 8
SmithArt - Middelburg 9
Work On May31, 2023 31 paintings with the rubble of the the annihilated al-Mishal Cultural Centre - by the occupying army of the apartheid state of Israel - blended with dust from the exhibition spaces where parts of the art-series DISTANT SUFFERING were displayed. Mixed with extremely little East-Indian ink & Arabic gum on Simili Japon, 225 grs. 96,0 x 65,0 cm. Presented in a wooden frame, measuring 97,9 x 66,3 x 4,5 cm. Poster rack oiled and steamed beech wood, wheels 100 x 87 x 58 cm. (height x width x depth ) Filing cabinet zinc-coated metal, hardboard 5 mm. 90 x 51 x 51 cm. (height x width x depth ) 36 plastic jars with metal lids, Ø 7 cm, 8cm. (height) Courtesy of Mohammed Al hawajri, Suzanne Groothuis, Ingrid Rollema All the exhibition venues and their curators and staff who exhibited my work. Please see from page 26 on. Photos ©2019Dani Ploeger, ©2023Giel Louws 10
primal version
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DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 0 | dissection of a disappearing cloud REMEMBERING THE AL-MISHAL CULTURAL CENTRE
nine parts March 26 - April 26, 2019 total dimensions work | h x w x d - 287,7 x 192,9 x 4,5 cm. Cloud, painted with the actual rubble from the spot in Gaza City where the annihilated al-Mishal Cultural Centre was situated, in extremely diluted East-Indian ink & Arabic gum on Simili Japon, 225 grs. 96,0 x 65,0 cm. in nine wooden frames, each measuring 97,9 x 66,3 x 4,5 cm. Connecting the Said al-Mishal Cultural Centre Gaza - obliterated in a bomb strike by the Israel Defence Forces on August 9, 2018 with the Watermans Arts Centre in London. Shown in the exhibition RADICAL IMMERSIONS. Curated by Klio Krajewska. For this opening piece of the art-series I asked my friend and colleague Mohammed Al hawajri in Gaza City to collect dust and dirt from the spot with the remains of the building and send this to me. I used the rubble to paint a large scale representation of the dust cloud that accompanied the explosion of the centre, partly based on a photo I saw in the news when I learned about the bombardment. The painting consists of nine panels. The plastic supermarket bag in which the dust was collected is presented in front of the paintings. The exhibition took place from 6 - 20 September 2019 and ran in parallel with the D.R.H.A. conference. Photos courtesy of ©2019Dani Ploeger. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 0 | September 6-20, 2019
Watermans Arts Centre, London.
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DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 0 September 6-20, 2019
Watermans Arts Centre, London.
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‘poster block’ version selection from the presentations of single pieces, diptychs and triptychs in different exhibitions
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Photos | ©2019 Christine Veraart courtesy of Gallery Arsis | Bergen op Zoom
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photo ©2021 Lukáš Jasanský | courtesy of Luxfer Open Space, Czech Republic
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de Roofprintpers | Middelburg | 2021
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CuktuurCentrum Brugge | Brugotta Hal Biekorf | Brughes / Belgium | 2021
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Art-initiative Slipvallen | Stockholm | Sweden | 2022 19
selection from all the works Cloud, painted with the actual rubble from the spot in Gaza City where the annihilated Mishal Cultural Centre was situated, mixed with the dust from exhibition spaces where my art work within the art-series DISTANT SUFFERING was exhibited, in extremely diluted East-Indian ink and Arabic gum on Simili Japon, 225 grs. 96,0 x 65,0 cm.
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DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 0 | September 6-20, 2019
mockup - Watermans Arts Centre, LondonUK
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 1 | April - May 2018
M5-Arsis Gallery, Bergen op Zoom
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DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 3 | October 2018
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 6 | August- October2019,
Sea foundation, Tilburg
Independent Artists Gallery, Milano, Italy
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DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 5 | June 2019 KUNSTHAL 45, Den Helder
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 7 | May - June 2020
space Brugotta Hal Biekorf, Bruges, Belgium
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DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 7 | May - June 2020
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 12 | June 2021
space Brugotta Hal Biekorf, Bruges, Belgium
Juxtapose Art Fair, Aarhus, Denmark
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DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 15 | February 2022
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 16 | April 2022
Lípa Art Collection, Prague, Czech Republic
Institute for Palestine Studies, Beirut, Lebanon
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distant suffering XIX 23 | December 2022 Dokumenta Archive, Kassel, Germany, 2022.
SUFFERING XIX 25 | February 2023
Adam Roussopoulos, mail artist in Chaska, USA.
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in statu nascendi
in statu nascendi
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 27 | February 2023
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 31 | August 2023
Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, Belgium
Gallery DurdenandRay, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
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background
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DISTANT SUFFERING #XIX
dissection of a disappearing cloud | difference and repetition* On August 9, 2018 in Gaza City the Said al-Mishal Cultural Centre Gaza was obliterated in a bomb strike by the Israel Defence Forces. Of course under the pretext that the building was used by ‘the Hamas terror organization for military purposes’, a common lie, always used in acts of war like this one. In truth of course it is a war against every part of the Palestinian identity. Since its establishment in 2004, Al-Mishal served as a home for hundreds of plays, exhibits, musical performances and national ceremonies. It was the venue of choice for theatre companies in Gaza and a space for Gaza’s top musical acts. The centre also included recreational activities for children who were affected by three successive wars in Gaza, including the first (dance)school for some 250 children. It is a devastating loss for the isolated, incarcerated Palestinian community. And of course there was hardly any international protest response. Neither from ‘politicians’ nor from ‘governments’, nor from the ( international ) art scene. Only in Great Britain, fourteen leading playwrights and theatre directors, including Mike Bartlett, Caryl Churchill, Vicky Featherstone and Rufus Norris, described the great rage and deep pain of their Palestinian friends and colleagues. The rest of the art world non-acted in deafening silence. So, this event mainly existed as a media event, embedded in a web of interrelated, opposing, contradictory political readings and interests and thereby was embedded in different networks of meaning involved in the broader conflict.
But the visual documentation of the explosion and its consequences often play only an illustrative role in the virtual media. Although the explosion is also a real, physical event, in which material is destroyed and people are hurt. This aspect is easy to downplay when watching the images online in the context of news reports. The explosion is quickly perceived merely as an image, a set of information, a cloud of data that is contained by the digital platform that one watches on a small screen. The image hardly provokes an embodied experience, is easy to watch as an 'effect' or semiotic as in ‘a movie’ and more or less take for granted as 'another' violent event. The work DISTANT SUFFERING #XIX / 0 | dissection of a disappearing cloud functions as the starting point of a work in progress. It uses non-digital, paper based and thereby physical media to foreground materiality and scale of the event. The cloud of the explosion is isolated, and due to its seize, becomes an immersive world of its own for a moment. This composed work measures 293,7 x 198,9 x 4,4 cm.; it towers high above you. The image is fragmented into nine parts. The analogy of the small screen emerges. The use of water on not clamped paper, tinted with actual debris from the ruins of the Said al-Mishal Cultural Centre Gaza – including the plastic bag in which it was collected - gives the art work a material dimension that exceeds its representative qualities. One needs to spend some time with it: it's large but the details of the dust are fine. The dirt gives a sense of an indexical, rather than symbolic, connection with the site of the horrific explosion. It creates an immersive, material environment that opposes the easy framing as information detached from physical and possi It 29
It easy framing as information detached from physical and possibly empathetic experience that is facilitated by the presentation of a digital image on a screen while reading a news website. The image itself is described quite ambiguously by beholders who reflected on the work: some see an explosion, others see a tree. I am rather glad with this ambiguity. After all, if we specify 'tree' as 'olive tree', this not only leads us to an age-old international peace symbol, but also to the symbol of the Israeli oppression in the occupied territories: the illegal up-rooting of sometimes century old olive gardens. In Palestinian Al Walaja stands the oldest olive tree in the world, the Al-Badawi. Over time, the olive tree has become a symbol of peace, wisdom and prosperity. Since the Israeli occupation, a specific meaning has been added for Palestinians: the olive tree has mainly become a symbol for the connection with the land and for steadfastness. The association of 'olive tree' also lead to a niche in the Dutch protest movement: 'Plant an Olive Tree'. Here people buy an olive tree that is then, in coordination with partners in Palestine, planted in the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza strip.
to connect and at the same time preserve memory on this horrendous event that took place on August 9th, 2018. The #0 of the art-series dissection of a disappearing cloud is painted with the rubble of the Said al-Mishal Cultural Centre Gaza, dissolved in extremely diluted East-Indian ink, strengthened wit a little Arabic gum, painted on on Simili Japon, 225 grs. 9 Panels, total dimensions h x w x d - 287,7 x 192,9 x 4,5 cm. For the footage of the destruction of the Centre, please see also https://youtu.be/vutHocL1ZYo and https://youtu.be/QVOnuK85MYA * The subtitle difference and repetition | title of the dissertation by G. Deleuze, 1968 (Presses Universitaires de France)
With the art series DISTANT SUFFERING #V | dissection of a disappearing cloud, I want to connect the art places both physically and mentally in which where I worked in and/or where I exhibited my art work. Because people have locked themselves in the difference: the ethnic, sexual, religious, gender and clan differences - and the world looks more ominous than ever. So by this project I want to connect and at the same time preserve memory on this 30
Gaza City | January 26, 2018 the spot where the SAID AL-MISHAL CULTURAL CENTER stood photo’s ©2019 courtesy of Mohammed Al hawajri
Soil collected by Suzanne Groothuis. Plastic bag | Mohammed Al hawajri postiljon d’amour | Ingrid Rollema 31
DISTANT SUFFERING #XIX | dissection of a disappearing cloud, from an art
historical perspective is, of course, also inspired by the paintings of the Dutch masters from the 17th century, in which the 'Dutch skies' dominated their landscapes. Born in Leiden, I every day walk to my primary school crossing the streets with the names of these painters . . .
Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29 - 1682) The mill at Wijk bij Duurstede ca. 1670 | 32.66 x 39.75 "│ Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
detail
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DISTANT SUFFERING | the project
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Since 2013, by means of the ongoing art-series DISTANT SUFFERING, the Dutch artist Hans Overvliet (Leiden, 1952) investigates the role of the media in their representation of (military) violence. This, in the context of themes as perception, memory and identity formation. Overvliet uses a various range of media, symbols and codes, bringing together dichotomies like beauty and violence, refinement and brutality, the sublime and the vulgar.
Hans Overvliet lives in Middelburg and works in Vlissingen, both in the province of Zeeland in the South-West of the Netherlands. Next to his art-work he is, together with his wife Willy van Houtum, the founder and every day guardian of the 27-year old space for contemporary art: ruimteCAESUUR.
As a reporter, Overvliet was an eyewitness to the events in the Middle East during the 1980s. Of course these experiences resonate in DISTANT SUFFERING. So aspects of power, politics, exclusion, censorship and the connection between artist, artwork and viewer infiltrate his multifaceted conceptual oeuvre. Martha Jager, curator Vleeshal in Middelburg about the oeuvre: The dedication to art as a relational verb is central to Overvliet's work. On the one hand, the balance between poetry and criticism is special, so that the work never becomes bitter or pedantic, while at the same time the dialogue with the viewer is actively maintained. It is a tender form of activism that moves and urges action and also continuously questions the role of art. Elements of DISTANT SUFFERING were exhibited in the Netherlands, Belgium, Pakistan, England, Italy, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Lebanon, Germany, the U.S.A. , France and Sweden. In 2023, his whole body of paper collages ( 1999 – 2012 ) joined Geert Verbeke’s renowned collection of collages and assemblages.
Here you’ll find his extended portfolio. Here you’ll find a kind of summary of his oeuvre. 34
acknowledgement individual works
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DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 0 was exhibited in London from
6 - 20 September 2019 and ran in parallel with the D.R.H.A. conference in the Watermans Arts Centre. Special thanks to Mohammed Al hawajri, Suzanne Groothuis, Ingrid Rollema, Giel Louws, Willy van Houtum & Dani Ploeger. Curator: Klio Krajewska. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 1 in September 2018 was selected by a
jury to participate in the M5-art project ‘Art from the Low Lands’ in Arsis Gallery in Bergen op Zoom in April - May 2019. In cooperation with Museum Gouda, the Markiezenhof in Bergen op Zoom, Gemeentemuseum Het Hannemahuis in Harlingen, the Westfries Museum in Hoorn and the Stedelijk Museum Zutphen. Special thanks to Arsis: Maarten van ’t Hof & Christine Veraart. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 2 was exhibited in art space
ruimteCAESUUR in Middelburg on September 14, 2018. Special thanks to Willy van Houtum.
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 5 was created in KUNSTHAL 45 in Den Helder in June 2019 during the 3-days performance DISTANT SUFFERING XIV | i.d. of a shared cloud #2 | the ‘book’.
Special thanks: Margo van der Pool, curator. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 6 was created due to the exhibitions in the INDEPENDENT ARTISTS GALLERY in Busto Garolfo / Milano in Italy where I participated in the art projects KABUTAR and (MEN OF) STREET ART, respectively in August 2019 and in October
2020. Special thanks to curators / organizers Mehreen Hashmi, Manuel Zoia & Martina Buttiglieri. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 7 was exhibited in art space Brugotta
Hal Biekorf in May in Bruges in Belgium in June 2020 during AiR Biekorf 4.0: Comédie de la condition humaine. Special thanks to curator Jan Verhaeghe. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 8 was created to connect with art
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 3 was exhibited in the Sea foundation in Tilburg in October 2018 during the 3-days performance DISTANT SUFFERING XIV i.d. of a shared cloud #2 | the ‘book’.
initiative Arsis, exhibition in the Markiezenhof, Bergen op Zoom. Corona year 2020 – 2021. Special thanks to Arsis: Maarten van ’t Hof.
Special thanks to the participants Julia Fidder and Pim Steinman. Thanks to Jan Willem van Rijnberk, Rinus Roepman, Jasper Steutel en Giel Louws. Curator: Riet van Gerven.
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 9 was created due to the exhibition
Steal like an Artist! in Kunstpodium ‘T’ in Tilburg in October 2 – October 28, 2020 in cooperation with Lost Painters. Special thanks to curator Niek Hendrix.
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 4 was exhibited in de Roofprintpers in
Middelburg in February 2019. Special thanks to Leni van den Berge. 36
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 10 was created due to the exhibition in
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 16 was created to connect with the Insti-
Amsterdam in 2021 during This Art Fair in the Kromhouthallen, May 2021, which was cancelled due to Corona. Special thanks to Eva Langerak. Česká Skalice, Czech Republic, August 2021. Special thanks to Roman Rejhold & Kate Štroblová.
tute for Palestine Studies, Palestine Hall / IPS building, Beirut, Lebanon, April 2022. Here, all the kites from the kite project were displayed and included in their permanent collection in Beirut, London, Ramallah and Washington. Special thanks: in London Sebastian BernburgU.K | in BeirutLB Rana Anani | in the Netherlands Ingrid Rollema | in BrusselsBE Suzanne Groothuis.
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 12 was created due to the exhibition in
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 17 was created to connect with
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 11 was exhibited in Luxfer Open Space,
Aarhus, Denmark in 2021 during the Juxtapose Art Fair in the Godsbanen Rå hall, June 2021 in which I participated with DISTANT SUFFERING XVIII, defacing palestine | the Nakba 19482018. Special thanks to Sasha Rose Richter and Jacob Juhl.
The Poortersloge, Bruges, Belgium. April 21 – May 29 2022. I presented the ice bullet in the expo Expect an Occasional Attack … and Flee. Special thanks to Jan Verheaghe and Sylvie Crutell, curators.
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 13 is non-existent for obvious reasons.
during Supermarket, the Stockholm Independent Art Fair in Sweden, May 2022, in which I participated with DISTANT SUFFERING XXI i.d. of a shared bullet. Special thanks to Alice Máselníková Creative Director.
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 14 is a reminder of the demolished
Buurthuis ( community house ) ‘t Blokhuis in December 2022 in Kattendijke, an art space run by the artists André Smits and Monika Dahlberg, showing a part of DISTANT SUFFERING VI | i.d. of a shared key. Special thanks to André Smits. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 15 was created to connect with the Lípa
Art Collection in Prague in the Czech Republic. In 2022 work from the art-series DISTANT SUFFERING is accepted in this collection. Special thanks to Roel van der Linden, founder and director of Lípa.
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 18 was created due to the exhibition
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 19 marks the participation in June 2022 in
the exhibition The Uninitiated in Slipvillan on Långholmen in Stockholm, Sweden. The dust is from both the garden as the arthouse on Långholmen in Stockholm. Special thanks to the artist group Slipvillan, curatorial team. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 20 connects The Uninitiated in Slipvillan
on Långholmen in Stockholm, Sweden, June 2022. The dust is from Studio44 in Stockholm. Curator Rikard Fåhraeus.
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DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 21 connecting with the Tirana Biennial of
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 26 conecting with Sana’a, in Yemen,
Graphic Arts, First edition, from 25 October- 25 November 2022. Art Gallery of Tirana, Tirana, Albania. Special thanks to Beste GürsuTurkey, Helidon HalitiAlbania, Zake PrelvukajKosovo, curators and Ormira LulaniiAlbania, director.
collected by Galit on February 12, 2023 for the Durden&RayUSA version of i.d. of a shared cup of tea. Tanks to Issam and Bo.
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 22 connecting with the exhibition what is
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 27 connecting with the Verbeke
the value of art? organised in Noordstraat 74 in Terneuzen by Zeur Hoenderop in November - December 2022. I revitalized DISTANT SUFFERING VII - VIII – IX into a multiple. Click here for the ( Dutch! ) statement I made for this exhibition DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 23 connecting with the Dokumenta
Archive in Kassel, Germany, December 2022. The poster ‘i.d. of inequality’ is – thanks to Jürgen Olbrich – part of their history and collection.
Foundation in Kemzeke, Belgium. Almost all my paper collages now are part of the collection of the Verbeke Foundation. Thanks to Geert Verbeke. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 28 connecting with bunkers from WWII
in Dishoek, Zeeland, June 3, 2023. Thanks to leon riekwell and John.
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 24 connecting with NO-INSTITUTE of
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 29 connecting with art centre Toonbeeld
Jürgen OOlbrich, Kassel, Germany in December 2022. In 2022 we started working together on several ( mail-art ) projects, all accompanied by delightful dialogues.
in Terneuzen Zeeland / Pakje Kunst, June 2023. Thanks to Harmien Hamelink. Postiljon d’amour Ramon de Nennie.
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 25 connecting with Adam Roussopoulos,
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 30 connecting with Gallery
mail artist in Chaska, USA | January 2023 Stamps of ‘i.d. of a shared bullet’ and my portrait stamp became part of his mail-art-stamp project.
DurdenandRay, Los Angeles, U.S.A., August 2023. Thanks to Carlos Beltran Arechiga who connected us and Ben Jackel, who delivered the dust. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX ??? conecting with my studio in art-
studio-foundation Kipvis in Flushing, which I – after more than 12 years – had to abandon in June 2023. 38
DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 31 connecting with Kunstverein
Projectraum Bahnhof25, Kleve, Germany November 11 – December 12, 2023 Thanks to Dirk Knickhoff, Elisabeth Schink and Ulrike Scholder. DISTANT SUFFERING XIX 32 connecting with SmithArt in
Middelburg where I exhibited this very project. October 1, 2023 – January 3, 2024 Thanks to Tineke Smith and Johan de Koning, curator.
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Music while creating the works Canto Ostinato for two pianos | Simeon ten Holt Sandra van Veen · Jeroen van Veen, 2011 Incantatie IV for three pianos | Simeon ten Holt Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen, Tamara Rumiantsev, 2020 Johann Sebastian Bach | Goldberg Variations Daan Manneke (b. 1939) Gedanken zu Bach | Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig . . . Hannes Minnaar piano | Recorded live at De Waalse Kerk, 2020 Philip Glass: Solo Piano Music | Jeroen van Veen, 2017 Avishai Cohen Trio | Shifting Sands Session | ARTE Concert, 2022 Bimhuis t.v. presents: The BadPlus | 2022 Bimhuis t.v. presents: Shai Maestro | 2021
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DISTANT SUFFERING #XIX
dissection of a disappearing cloud difference and repetition#2 work in progress 2018 - 20 . . REMEMBERING THE SAID AL-MISHAL CULTURAL CENTRE IN GAZA CITY OBLITERATED BY THE ISRAELIAN DEFENCE FORCE ON AUGUST 9, 2018
www.hansovervliet.com
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