26_CATALOGUE PARALLEL KITE

DISTANT SUFFERING LXVIII

i.d. of a parallel kite

flying a kite for gaza

. . . always someone's parent, always someone's child . . .

DISTANT SUFFERING LXVIII

i.d. of a parallel kite dedicated to Safaa AshourLB

hans overvliet

context

Foreword to the 2026 re-instalment of the kiteflying initiative in Beirut in October 2026.

In early September 2026, the Zionazi Israel Katz, the Israeli minister overseeing the apartheid state's occupation forces, declared that flying kites in the Gaza Strip is considered a military action and would be met with a deadly response.

Kite-flying has a long tradition in Gaza; back in 2011, thousands of children there set a Guinness World Record by simultaneously flying kites from the beach. That event was one of the inspirations 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 ‘yes’ immediately and wholeheartedly and gave Safaa free rein to exhibit her interpretation of the image — the cage and the kites. Safaa Ashour had two ambitions for her re-instalment: inviting a number of Lebanese artists to create additions to the project, and then 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 entire kite project had begun in 2018?

Thus, came DISTANT SUFFERING LXVIII | i.d. of a parallel kite to life and on October xx, 2026 the idea of a parallel action and connection became reality . . .

Middelburg, September 14, 2026

October xx, 2026 Blvd Evertsen | VlissingenNL Xxxx | BeirutLB

colophon

Participating artists: 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 until November 15, 2018 teamCAESUUR | Middelburg [ www.caesuur.nu ]: Willy van Houtum, Giel Louws and Dani Ploeger Flying the kites on October 20, 2018 | Vlissingen Boulevard Evertsen 1 Photo’s Leni van den Berge, Toon Truyens, Paul de Ruiter, Giel Louws, Ko de Jonge, Hans Overvliet, Loek Grootjans, Dirk Van der Wal, leon riekwell, Jack van Aspert († 2019), Alex Soplantila

Flying the kites on Sunday, November 2018 Nijmegen | De VASIM Thanks to Jac.Splinter, Willy van Houtum, Loek Overvliet, Hans Gloudemans, the city poet of Nijmegen Amal Karam Photo’s Marten en Hans Overvliet, Gerard Verschooten Exhibition #2 Institute for Palestine Studies | Palestine Hall Beiruth | Lebanon | April 1 – June 17, 2022 Thanks to Sebastian Bemburg, Rana Anani, Suzanne Groothuis Postiljon d’amour Ingid Rollema who brought the kites to Beirut Exhibition #3 Art initiative Slipvillan | Långholmen Stockholm | Sweden | June 4 – June 27, 2022 Thanks to Rikard Fåhraeus, Mashoud Shasavari, Laetitia Deschamps, Jannike Brattås Flying the kites on Exhibition #4 Institute for Palestine Studies | Re-instalment 2026 | Safaa Ashour

DISTANT SUFFERING | the project

Martha Jager, curator at Vleeshal in Middelburg, Netherlands, on the complete 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. hans overvliet studio address Dreesstraat 2 Vlissingen home address Lange Noordstraat 67, NL-4331 CC Middelburg 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

flying a kite for gaza . . . always someone's parent, always someone's child . . .