As a space to speak and disseminate, to gather and publish, Designers Speak (Up) recently proposed its platform to designers, artists, poets, writers and educators who have been and are actively making work in support of Palestine. It is important that this work is seen/re-seen, read/re-read, and that these makers and doers, among many others not here, are supported.
Peaceful protesters march up Queen Street at the Pro-Palestine rally In Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, on Sunday 12 November 2023. [Video: Jinki Cambronero / footage blurred to protect identities]
These moments capture the first time I found myself marching next to chanting, amplified through a speaker, accompanied by live hand drumming. Swept into the energy of their rallying rhythmic flow. Feeling their power. Feeling hope, and grateful to have experienced a window into the culture and strength of the Palestinian people.
The rally was attended by thousands of people. Organised by Palestinian Solidarity Network (PSNA) @psnaotearoa, Palestinian Youth Aotearoa @palestinian.youth.aotearoa, Auckland Peace Action @auckland.peace.action and Kaiāwhina Tāmaki (supported by Anti-Fascist Tāmaki @antifa_tamaki and Anti-Fascist Waiheke @antifa_waiheke).
Jinki Cambronero / photographer, art director, designer / website instagram linkedin x
The Heaviest Rain
In Ōtepoti
only gulls soar high over head
and Palestinian flags swim low
in the air like tuna
we form a river of people
upon which calls for ceasefire floatDown the street
our voices become the current
which floods the Octagon
and Ranginui weeps
as though he hasn’t wept for the
longest time
it is a hearty tangi
the droplets are smooth stones but
the heaviest rain falls in GazaWe raise our faces to feel water
let it in
the clouds roll with thunder
an echo from across the sea
lightning strikes our hearts
open
let it inWe send these tears of Rangi down the awa
may our whānau in Gaza and Palestine know
their healing touchMay our “leaders” hear our chanting
may it echo in their sleep and may they never
dream a calming dream again
till Palestine knows Liberation
they will not know Peace.
Jessica Hinerangi / Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāruahine, Pākehā / artist / @maori_mermaid
Strokes for Solidarity
Strokes for Solidarity was a collaborative painting event between An.Other Collective and Charity Right at Carlton Gardens, Melbourne, on Saturday 25 November, 2023. I had the privilege to help organise and facilitate this event, providing materials and creative support to attendees. The event involved collective sign, banner and canvas painting in response to the ongoing crisis in Palestine. Acrylic paints were handed out on paper plates, as well as pieces of watermelon and manoush (a levant-style pizza). From the brushes, markers and pencils, grew myriad images and texts reflecting grief, outrage and solidarity in large swathes of green, red, black and white.
An.Other Collective (@an.othercollective) is an art collective of Muslim women creatives based in Sydney and Melbourne. The ethos of “An.Other” is embracing the identity of “the other” within the creative world and beyond those walls, while simultaneously making and celebrating spaces for those who share this sense of alienation. We host creative events and workshops, creative collaborative art pieces and promote projects that represent our collective ethos. Most recently the collective has been focusing on responding to, and advocating for, the Palestinian cause, with events such as Resist to Exist, Poetry in Motion, and Strokes for Solidarity, as well as the distribution of cartoon stickers. Although I only had the opportunity to join this group very recently, it has quickly become a key community where I gather strength, inspiration and love from. I am honoured to stand with this sisterhood as we fight for the freedom of all Palestinians.
Ronia Ibrahim / artist, designer, writer / roniaibrahim.myportfolio.com
The Eternal Wall and other works
I have always made artwork that, in some way, relates to the immediate context in which I find myself. In 2003 I moved to Los Angeles to study for my MFA at CalArts. This was the year that the United States of America invaded Iraq, and to find myself living in a country that was invading another with the full force of its military might was unsettling and consuming for me. However, it was another conflict that the USA was also fully committed to that I started to make work about. This one was rarely discussed among people I know, created acute tensions, and was seemingly never ending — Palestine.
— Fiona Jack
Olive Trees for Jayyous
In 2003 a small agricultural village Jayyous had a section of the barrier wall built between them and their agricultural land which was, for many, their livelihood. I can’t recall how I knew this community. I was working with some Palestinian groups so I guess perhaps through them. For the duration of the olive harvest season in 2003, as olives were unable to be picked due to the new barrier wall, I drew/painted as many olive trees as I could each day in the spare time I had on this big piece of paper. Intensifying in colour as they layered.
Moshe
This video follows a toy caterpillar bulldozer with lights, sounds and movements up a long road in Valencia, California, with a voiceover reading out the transcript of an interview with an IDF [Israel Defence Forces] soldier that was published in Yediot Aharanot [an Israeli daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv] in 2002. In the transcript he describes his experience bulldozing a populated Jenin refugee camp for 72 hours fuelled by whisky, delirium and lack of sleep. He was given a commendation for service soon after.
Missing Peoples
The idea for this book emerged when I looked up ‘Palestinian’ in the dictionary but realised it was not there. This handmade artist book lists the names of nationalities missing from the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, which was then the most popular printed dictionary in the USA. Many dictionaries do not include the names of countries in the main body of the dictionary, but in a separate section at the end. What is included are the nouns that name the nationalities of the inhabitants of places. For example ‘Spain’ would not be included, but the noun/nationality ‘Spanish’ would be. The 11th (and last) edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (2003) used this method of lexicography, but included only 83 out of a list of 222 nationalities. ‘Missing Peoples’ lists the 139 nationalities of the missing peoples, of which Palestine is one. There are two letters that accompany this book — the letter I wrote to the editor of the dictionary trying to understand the selection criteria, and the letter they sent back in response.
Fiona Jack / artist, educator / fionajack.net
Harmony of resistance
In the Arabic language, characters seamlessly merge together when needed, transforming and uniting as one. Words flow without distinct separations; each character retains its individual meaning. At times, breaking down these characters might seem meaningless, yet the unity they form remains powerful, unaffected by any attempted dissection or separation.
In the art of calligraphy, the word ‘Palestine’ in Arabic speaks of resilience and strength. As the strokes gracefully blend, each character speaks volumes, resonating with an inherent harmony of resistance. The elegant curves and intricate lines of Arabic script communicate a powerful message, echoing the enduring spirit and unwavering determination of a people. When penned in calligraphic form, the word ‘Palestine’ rises above just letters; it becomes a symphony of rebellion, a visual testament to the enduring strength and steadfastness rooted deep within its script. Each stroke whispers tales of struggle, perseverance, and hope, encapsulating the unwavering spirit of a land and its people.
I’ve broken down the characters of the word ‘Palestine’, referring to the division this land has endured over decades. What stands out is that each letter resonates with a unified message: “We are a resilient land united as one”.
Sudi Dargipour / designer / weaver / psychologist / design director, Dilana dilana.co.nz/sudi-dargipour
Postcards for Palestine
Artist-led initiative Postcards for Palestine (@postcardsforpalestine), organised by Peter Watkins, is a humanitarian fundraising exhibition to raise money for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and the UN Reliefs and Works Agency. Artists were asked to create and submit up to three postcards, to be exhibited in December 2023 at artist-run space Berlinskej Model (@berlinskej_model) in Prague, and then at an event at Claire de Rouen Books (@clairederouenbooks), London. The postcards will be for sale for 20 EUR via an online portal (to come) at the same time as the exhibitions.
I saw the call-out on Instagram and submitted work along with Aotearoa artist Louisa Afoa. There wasn’t time to make new work that responded to the brutal and heart-wrenching situation happening to children and civilians in Palestine (and more specifically Gaza), so I sent photographs from a project titled Lakeside Drive. The work was shot around my parents’ home in the last few years of my dad’s battle with Parkinsons.
I chose these photos as I was thinking about the idea of home as a safe space (a human right that many of us take for granted) and how this is one of the many things that people in Gaza and other parts of Palestine have been denied.
Caryline Boreham / artist, photographer, educator / @carylineboreham, carylineboreham.com
Existence is resistance
“Existence is resistance”, have you heard? Palestinians remain grounded on their land, facing adversity and oppression. Simply “existing” stands against those seeking their removal, emphasising that home is sacred, and outsiders have no right to take it away.
This painting depicts the tragic incident in May 2021 at The Associated Press office in the Gaza Strip. Ironically bombed under the assumption of housing Hamas military intelligence, it was a deliberate attempt to disrupt coverage of human suffering — a familiar narrative still used by the IDF, causing numerous casualties and deaths across the Gaza Strip.
Existence is Resistance was featured in a charity auction with all proceeds directed towards aiding Palestine. The winning bidder acquired a 20 x 24 acrylic on canvas as part of the auction. The artwork was later showcased in a Palestine history, art, and culture exhibition organised by @nzforhumanity in July 2021
Nabila Ahmed / artist, product designer / @nabilas.art
Scars of colonialism, In the frame of reference…
The ancestral trauma, to seek validation of pain from the ones who are the source of cause, to be heard and seen by “blending in”, to be let down by our very own due to the intergenerational fear of consequences, cancellation and misappropriation of our culture little by little… the list is long and painful.
You came in your boats, now question our existence and call us “sub-humans”, our art worn by bodies not us “in the name of inspiration”, silence our roots before they grow, you left but your marks remain, now as we carry those demons; I question how can I fight external racism while dealing with a fractured internalised structure, how can I co-exist with two identities… ?
I cannot fathom the pain but only with a deep understanding of “otherness” as my heart and mind stand with you, Palestine; as a Pakistani, as a child who grew up hearing stories from my Nana of massacre and genocide based on racial, ethnic and religious division, as an immigrant, as a human…
In a thousand, in a million, we are ALL Palestinians.
Truly thankful for this private, explorative, intimate collage workshop, hosted by a close confidante, and conducted by beautiful Naeema @naomi_azoulay_collage
Hina Nasir / freelance digital designer, artist / hnvisual.link
Exist/Resist
Watching this unfold on our screens makes us feel helpless but we must not be hopeless.
We use our voices and our feet to unite on roads that are intact, our buildings still standing.
We use our hearts and our souls and call for freedom and dignity, watching our brothers and sisters be stripped of theirs.
We use our influence and our means to spend ethically, to minimise our dependence on those committing genocide.
We move in one direction, and one direction only — and that is for a free, dignified and liberated Palestine.
History shows resistance is expected.
History proves existence is respected.Exist : رابط / Resist : قاوم
Resist : قاوم / Exist : رابط
Studio Chida / Aakifa Chida & Afifa Chida / @studiochida
From the river to the sea
I’ve not known what to say. Nothing feels like enough.
Free Palestine.
Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho / Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhaata, Te āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Kahungunu, Fale’ula / Takatāpui artist / @hurianakt.a
A note on the title to this article, contributed by Elle Loui August who wrote, ʻThis reflects my feeling on first opening the archive [not presented here] that I have been compiling over the past two months, finding within a choir of voices, in speech and in text, responding, boosting other voices, supporting and disseminating experience, thought and action. It is also the opening line that I have used in all of my emails to politicians, and today, our permanent envoy to the UN. The line is usually completed by a time signature… this afternoon or this morning, but the concert of voices continues in every hour!’
RESOURCES
Aotearoa Liberation League @aotearoaliberationleague Al Jazeera English @aljazeeraenglish / aljazeera.com Auckland Peace Action @auckland.peace.action / aucklandpeaceaction.wordpress.com Jewish Voice for Peace @jewishvoiceforpeace / jewishvoiceforpeace.org Kūwao Space @kuwaospace / kuwao.space Māori Call for Palestine Sign the petition Middle East Eye @middleeasteye Mothermother @mothermother_archive Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa @psnaotearoa / psna.nz Palestinian Youth Aotearoa @palestinian.youth.aotearoa Radio Alhara @radioalhara / radioalhara.net The Pantograph Punch @pantographpunch / pantograph-punch.com Further listening/reading Anything by Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Palestine from an international law perspective). Talks, Tweets, Podcasts. The West’s Love for Israel Erases the Middle East’s Real History Zionism emerged in response to 19th-century European antisemitism — but its aims in Palestine drew upon Western colonial ideologies. To present the current conflict as a timeless feud denies both European responsibility and Palestine’s multiethnic history. — Ussama Makdisi, 29/11/2023 The War on Palestine Has Gone on for Over 100 Years Historian Rashid Khalidi reframes the ‘Israel-Palestine Conflict’ in light of the 1917 Balfour Declaration and beyond, breaking down the myth of an ancient and eternal Jewish-Arab antagonism. — Chris Hedges, 1/12/2023 Chris Hedges: “Exterminate all the Brutes” Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Chris Hedges was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years for The New York Times, where he served as the Middle East Bureau Chief and Balkan Bureau Chief for the paper. He previously worked overseas for The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, and NPR. He is the host of the show The Chris Hedges Report. The Funambulist The Funambulist is a platform that engages with the politics of space and bodies. “Our hope is to provide a useful platform where activist/academic/practitioner voices can meet and build solidarities across geographical scales. Through articles, interviews, artworks, and design projects, we are assembling an ongoing archive for anticolonial, antiracist, queer, and feminist struggles”. Let’s Talk Palestine @letstalkpalestine join broadcast channel for regular news updates How To Find The Strength To Continue Your Activism During Crisis Words by Palestinian New Zealand Writer Wajd El-Matary Podcasts Upstream Palestine Pt.3: Settler-Colonialism and Medical Apartheid with Rupa Marya & Jess Ghannam The Big Picture by Middle East Eye The Fall of Western Order with Wadah Khanfar