After working with visual art as both a reflection of the world around us and as a weapon against the injustice we witness, I have been thinking about how I can take my art for Palestine further than Iceland. This island, in the periphery of Europe has been a loud voice in the fight against “Israel” and for a free Palestine, and I have tried to do my part in it as loudly as I can.

Last summer I traveled to another island, at the very other end of Europe, a calm island in the Aegean called Ikaria, where I was given the opportunity to leave a mark on the land speaking as loudly for Palestine with another large scale mural there with the help of the local pro Palestine movement. Now, back in the cold dark Icelandic winter, still witnessing a genocide, I want to take my work of visual, public solidarity further. Even though these islands might be perceived as isolated and distant places, we all share parallel experiences of resilience, cultural memory, autonomy and connection. I want my next project to visualise how we have always been connected through currents, migration routes, trade histories and now in these contemporary networks of solidarity.

So to summarise: we might seem separated but we remain deeply interconnected through grief, resistance and through what we all see.

Visually in the project I will use eyes as a symbol of witnessing and as a symbol of refusing to look away. Eyes have been known to represent awareness and protection, and within this project I want to add the meaning that everywhere people see, everywhere people remember. With these murals I want to encourage people to act, not just watch in silence.

Why do I mostly speak for Palestine, I have been asked, and I believe it is because this is the litmus test of our times. This is where our humanity either goes to die or where we save it, and I believe with community and efforts in all different ways the latter will be possible . My part is that of the artist, for now, and through large scale public murals I aim to visualise these connections, our shared solidarity for Palestine. By each mural there will be a QR code leading to this website where you can find resources on how to do your part instead of witnessing in silence.

Artwork on public walls function as shared spaces for reflection, memory and connection. I want to strengthen these connections, the cultural exchange between communities. To work together with local cultural institutions, with grassroots initiatives and with other artists is an important part of this. Islands for me have always been a place where I feel the most connected to the world, despite them standing alone.

I will document each finished mural using an analog camera pretading 1948, as in predating the Nakba. I want to show how it’s not very long ago “Israel” was established, and by using a camera older than the occupation I give us the opportunity to view my work through a lens that has seen the world when “israel” did not exist, a lens that somehow sees Palestine for what it is, and what it should always be: Palestine.


The aim is not thoughtless replication of eyes without context, but shared resonance and a reminder that we hold responsibility both to our shared history, the times we are in and to our shared future. What will they see looking back? What can we look at in the past to learn? What do we do with what we see now?