DISTANT SUFFERING LXVIII
i.d. of a parallel kite
about the self-destructive bullet
flying a kite for gaza on october xx, 2026 in sync with beirut
DISTANT SUFFERING LXVIII
i.d. of a parallel kite
about the self-destructive bullet dedicated to Safaa AshourLB
flying a kite for gaza on october xx, 2026 in sync with beirut
. . . always someone's parent, always someone's child . . . hans overvliet | 2026
context
Foreword to the 2026 re-instalment of the kiteflying initiative in BeirutLB in October 2026. In September 2026, the Zionazi Israel Katz—the minister overseeing the genocidal occupation forces of the apartheid state of Israel—declared that flying kites in the Gaza Strip would be considered a military act and met with a lethal response. Kite-flying has a long tradition in Gaza; back in July 2011, thousands of children there set a Guinness World Record by simultaneously flying 12,350 kites from the Al-Waha beach. That event was the inspiration for my kite project in 2018. So, for children in Gaza’s refugee camps, making and flying kites (crafted from plastic bags and scraps of wood) is one of the few forms of distraction and a way to process trauma. Following the fascistic statement of Katz, Safaa Ashour, Art Coordinator of the Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) in Beirut, Lebanon, contactted me: I am writing regarding your artwork Distant Suffering (2018) in the IPS, Beyrouth collection. I remember being present at the Salute to Prisoners of Freedom exhibit in April of 2022 and being stunned by it. Powe-
being stunned by it. Powerful yet delivered tenderly. In light of the recent news emerging from Gaza where threats from the Israeli occupation forces have forced parents to prevent their children from flying kites; the work has acquired an even more urgent and devastating relevance. There is a profound absurdity in turning a kite, one of childhood’s simplest expressions of play and freedom, into a military threat. It is yet another instance in which Palestinian childhood itself is restricted, surveyed, and weaponized. That all being expressed, we would like to consider reinstalling the work either at IPS or at another arts and cultural institution in Beyrouth also and presenting it in relation to this current context. I answered immediately and wholeheartedly with a ‘yes’ and gave Safaa free rein to exhibit her own interpretation of the image — both the cage and the kites. Safaa had two ambitions for her re-instalment: inviting a number of Lebanese artists to create additions to the project as wel as flying and subsequently exhibiting those kites.
Both ideas moved and inspired me: what if, at the very moment Safaa and ‘her’ artists were flying their kites on a beach in Beirut, I simultaneously flew a kite—created specifically for this context—on Boulevard Evertsen 1, near Pier 7, where the kites were flown for the very first time and where the first exhibition took place in the sand of that beach in 2018? Thus, DISTANT SUFFERING LXVIII | i.d. i.d. of a parallel kite came to life. With the icon of the age-old triad—now consisting of three different bullets that destroy one another upon firing—utilizing the cyanotype tech-nique of John Herschel (1842) and Anna Atkins (1844). On October xx, 2026, the idea of a parallel action and connection became reality . . . Middelburg, September 14, 2026
Photo courtesy of ©Willy van Houtum | September 2026
the parallel kite
October xx, 2026 Blvd Evertsen | VlissingenNL Xxxx | BeirutLB
with a little help from my friends Michiel van Amerongen | 28/09/’26
materials colophon | 2018 – 2026 DISTANT SUFFERING | the project
Materials ø1 cm round wooden dowels; Three layers of international news pages from NRC Handelsblad and de Volkskrant; Bison wood glue for indoor use; GAMMA white matt enamel paint for indoor use; White sheet washed many times; Jacquard Cyanotype tw0 Component Set; Amsterdam Standard Series Prussian Blue (588); Amsterdam Standard Series Titanium White (105); Van Beek universal finishing varnish matt; Kite dimensions: 106 cm x 147 cm; Rope: Talen Tools green jute twine 90 m; Tail: varied length cut-up plastic trash bags. Thanks to Bo de Jong, who introduced this technique to me and taught me how to work with it in my own way; Willy van Houtum who, as always, positively influenced and facilitated the process by helping, among other things, to shape the final layer of paint; Giel Louws, who, together with Willy, helped launch the kite in Vlissingen.
Colophon | 2018 – 2026 Participating artists kite project 2018: from Pakistan Mehreen Hashmi from Gaza / Palestine Mohammed alHawajri, Dina Mattar and Raed Issa from Germany / Danmark Jörn Burmester From Belgium jen gossé, Frie J. Jacobs and Jan Verhaeghen From the Netherlands Leni van den Berge, Ko de Jonge, Dani Ploeger, leon riekwell, Loek Grootjans, Ingrid Rollema, Hans Overvliet, Stef Fridael, Robin Weijers, Harriët Rademakers and Rinus Roepman. Kite expert | Michiel van Amerongen. Exhibition #1 ruimteCAESUUR October 20 - November 15, 2018 teamCAESUUR | Middelburg Willy van Houtum, Giel Louws and Dani Ploeger.
Flying the kites #1 | October 20, 2018 Vlissingen | Boulevard Evertsen 1 Flying the kites #2 | Sunday, November 2018 Nijmegen | De VASIM Thanks to Jac.Splinter, Willy van Houtum, Loek Overvliet, Hans Gloudemans, the city poet of Nijmegen Amal Karam; Exhibition #2 Institute for Palestine Studies | Palestine Hall Beiruth | Lebanon | April 1 – June 17, 2022 Thanks to | photos Sebastian Bemburg, Rana Anani, Suzanne Groothuis; Postiljon d’amourIngid Rollema who brought the kites to Beirut. Exhibition #3 Art initiative Slipvillan | June 4 – June 27, 2022 Långholmen | Stockholm | Sweden Thanks to Rikard Fåhraeus, Mashoud Shasavari, Laetitia Deschamps and Jannike Brattås
Flying the kites #3 | October 20, 2018 Vlissingen | Boulevard Evertsen 1 Thanks to Willy van Houtum | Giel Louws Jochem Weststrate | Ilja Tuning Photos Willy van Houtum | Giel Louws Jochem Weststrate | Ilja Tuning Flying the parallel kite | October 20, 2018 Beirut | Lebanon Photos Exhibition #4 | Re-instalment 2026 Institute for Palestine Studies | Beirut Lebanon Thanks to Safaa Ashour | curator / producer Photos Click here for the catalogue of the complete project 2018 – 2026; Click here for the reactions on the first edition.
DISTANT SUFFERING | the project
Martha Jager, curator at Vleeshal in Middelburg, the Netherlands, on the oeuvre after visiting the studio: 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 remarkable, because the work never becomes bitter or pedantic, while at the same time actively maintaining a dialogue with the viewer. Hans' artworks are a tender form of activism that incites action and at the same time also constantly questions the role of art.
studio address Dreesstraat 2 Vlissingen www.hansovervliet.com curiositas@zeelandnet.nl team member of www.caesuur.nu www.ikbeneengod.one my condensed portfolio my extended portfolio click here for my C.V. International reference: DutchCulture
DISTANT SUFFERING LXVIII
i.d. of a parallel kite
hans overvliet