Almost Sold Out 2025- Pen and ink on paper – 70 x 70 cm
Life as we know it: ‘Only few left. Don’t miss out. Last stock. While stocks last. Everything apparently has its price. Does it matter? Should it matter? Cause before you know it, it’s gone.
Het leven zoals dat gaat: ‘Er zijn er nog maar een paar over. Mis deze kans niet. Laatste voorraad. Zolang de voorraad strekt. Alles heeft blijkbaar zijn prijs. Doet het er toe? Zou het er toe moeten doen? Want voor je het weet is het weg‘
“Er zit iemand met opgetrokken knieën op een muur, waarachter een vluchtelingenkamp begint. Een grote bende is het, met ergens tussen de tenten en rotzooi een Palestijnse vlag. Het affiche dat Erik Knegt heeft opgehangen bij de entree van MicksArt Gallery in Emmen spreekt voor zich. Zo niet, dan is er nog de tekst die een kleine tentoonstelling met kunst uit Gaza aankondigt: “How can a person lose everything he owns and not lose his mind?”
Met uiterst beperkte middelen, onder erbarmelijke omstandigheden, proberen Palestijnen de situatie waarin ze leven in beelden te vatten.”
“Someone is sitting with their knees drawn up on a wall, behind which a refugee camp begins. It is a large mess, with a Palestinian flag somewhere among the tents and rubbish. The poster that Erik Knegt has hung at the entrance to MicksArt Gallery in Emmen speaks for itself. If not, there is also the text announcing a small exhibition of art from Gaza: “How can a person lose everything he owns and not lose his mind?”
With extremely limited resources, under appalling conditions, Palestinians are trying to capture the situation in which they live in images.”
Joep Van Ruiten (Dagblad van het Noorden)
I am very happy with this publication and I hope it will inspire many people to buy something from these young Palestinian artists from Gaza!
Message From Gaza Prints and photographs by Ahmed Al Daalsa & Hussain Al Jerjawi MicksArt Collective & Gallery, Emmen
How are things there? How does hunger feel? How does it feel to be slowly erased? How does it feel to dominate the news but still not be seen? What would I do if my country was occupied? Would my resistance be armed? What if the aggressor was once a victim too? And what if that is precisely at the root of this mayhem .
Met gepaste trots presenteer ik Stichting Het Zwols Stadsatelier. Vrijdag 20 juni J.L. opgericht en statutair vastgelegd en bij de notaris beëdigd (heet dat zo?) Samen met Gina Draaisma en Jos Mulder vorm ik nu het 3 koppige bestuur van een concept wat hopelijk binnen nu en 6 maanden vaste vorm gaat krijgen.
Omdat we nog volop in een onderzoeksfase zitten en nog allerlei punten op I’s moeten zetten, zeg ik er inhoudelijk nog niet te veel over.
Wel kan ik zeggen dat we hele vruchtbare gesprekken hebben gehad met beleidsmakers en leegstandbeheerders. Het is nog best een ingewikkelde maar mooie culturele, sociaal maatschappelijke puzzel die we moeten leggen.
Meer hierover volgt maar dit eerste concrete wapenfeit wilde ik vast met jullie delen.
Ik bedank de regeling ‘Oog voor Impuls’ die deze onderzoeksfase/verkenning mede mogelijk heeft gemaakt.
Wordt vervolgd.
Denk je toch hierin iets te kunnen of willen betekenen, mail of bel mij.
(English version)
With pride I present The Zwols Stadsatelier Foundation. Friday, June 20, J.L. established and statutory and sworn in at the notary (is that how it’s called?) Together with Gina Draaisma and Jos Mulder, I now form the 3-person board of a concept that will hopefully take shape within the next 6 months.
Because we are still in a research phase and still have to fill in some blancs, I won’t say too much about the content.
What I can say is that we have had very fruitful discussions with policy makers and vacancy managers. It is still quite a complicated but beautiful cultural, social puzzle that we have to put together.
More on this will follow but I wanted to share this first concrete achievement with you.
I would like to thank the ‘Oog voor Impuls’ (Eye for Impulse) organization that made this research phase/exploration possible.
To be continued.
Do you think you can or want to mean something in this, please mail or call me.
In this post I feature a drawing made by Hussain Al Jerjawi, a young artist from Gaza (17)
Hussain is a student of Ahmed Aldaalsa from whom I showcased his work earlier.
Ahmed has been a guest artist on my website since 2024, since his exhibition in Kunstruimte het Langhuis Zwolle titled Gaza’24. Hussain is joining him there now as writer Tasneem Ayyad does too.
Hussains drawings tell the same story as Ahmed. Now the situation in Gaza is interpreted through his eyes and hands and again he gives us a glance of the situation in Gaza.
Soon both artists Ahmed and Hussain will showcase their work in a Dutch Gallery, MicksArt Collectief in Emmen. More about that soon
The situation in Gaza is pure horror. Yesterday I heard on the news that even the food aid by the Israeli – American GFH is controversial. It is used as a weapon and contributes to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war aims. People got shot and died during the distribution of (too little) food and medicine. The UN has rejected the controversial US-Israeli aid plan and is not involved.
Want to help these young artists? Soon their prints will be available but until then you can help them by donating to their Go- Funding Page, it can be found on my guestpages.
Hereby I present my latest work, Life Is Too Short, To you
Life is Too Short- Digital artprint (on Dibond) 90cm x 150 cm x 0,5 mm- 2025
Life is too short to be negative.
Life is too fickle to be naive
Life is too dynamic to be relaxed
Life is too unfair to be positive
Life ends that makes it relative.
This image is a digital collage of pictures I made in Rome (2022) Man holding his head and massaging his temples was posted on a bridge crossing the Tiber, the Tiber is now flooding behind the man, the graffiti found on a wall somewhere in Rome. La Grande Bellezza.
In this post I feature the latest work ‘No time to recover’ and WAR by Ahmed Aldaalsa, an artist from Gaza (March/April 2025)
No time to recover – by Ahmed Aldaalsa – Gaza
Ahmed about this drawing: “Well this person is me and I am trying to talk in this work about not recovering because you know the war is back again so I did not take enough time for my mind and body to recover and now I feel very scattered and also I am holding a cactus in my hand which is a symbol of patience here in Palestine“
While Gaza is, still and again, under siege by Netanyahu’s army. Ahmed and his family are still trying to survive and overcome this devastating defeat. But like the titel of his latest drawing, he is not able to recover this intense and brutal crimes against them. While most Gazans drown in silent despair, Ahmed can still draw us a picture.
Ahmed’s story is the story of many Gazans; their situation is dire and distressing. I gave Ahmed a guest page on my website in July 2024 and exhibited his work in art space the Langhuis Zwolle. You can read more about it at https://maritotto.nl/guest-page/ or https://www.langhuis.nl/expected-gaza-24/.
I am fully aware of my own lack of power but I think it is still important that the story, including the personal and in this case the artistic story, continues to be told and that the eyes of the world remain on Gaza (and the West Bank). Also, it is my indictment of Netanyahu, I hope justice will be done.
WAR – drawing by Ahmed Aldaalsa – GazaDetail of No time to recover’ – Holding cactus meaning ‘patience’
Hereby I present my latest artworks to you; ‘Enable & Disable (diptych)
Acrylic on canvas
50 x 50 x 1cm each
2025
Enable & Disable – acryl op canvas – 50 x 50 cm- 2025
Enable and disable; these words hold power to switch on or off. Each time we are asked to enable or disable we take a turn in one direction. This trivial action may have implications.
As individuals we sometimes seem and feel powerless but together we can be a force of change, if we choose to.
Sadly, the global unregulated free market in its current form has been proving destructive to the planet but is now endangering our democracies as well.
At the root of every product is a producer, but then there is also, ultimately, a user. We are that users. Without a user a producer is a king without a kingdom, an empty, harmless shell. So what we as consumers do, buy and use matters. We are able to enable and disable. Switch on and off. With every purchase, we enable someone at the end of the line. We are able to make kings rise and fall and disable or enable anyone who can or can’t handle our confidence and saves or steals our future.
