Ramallah

Ramallah (2009) is a key work in Berend Strik's Thixotropy series, created during his travels to East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The city — de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority — serves as both subject and symbol of displacement and unresolved conflict.

Strik's Thixotropy series is unified by his philosophical approach to photography: "A photo cannot freeze time. Photos are imaginary, because what you see in a photo is no longer the same the moment you look at the photo. For me, photos are unfinished, open, incomplete." This belief drives him to intervene in photographs, adding textile layers that transform fixed images into fluid, multi-layered compositions.

In Ramallah, as with all works in the series, Strik photographs everyday scenes — domestic spaces, architectural details — and enhances them with tulle, velvet, and colored threads. These interventions reveal new layers of meaning, creating what the artist calls an "intermediate space" for memory and association.

The work was exhibited at Galerie Fons Welters alongside Israel House, Palestinian House, and Arafat. The exhibition was reviewed by NRC Handelsblad, which praised works where "the additions are so subtle you barely notice them" — the highest compliment for Strik's non-intrusive yet deeply transformative interventions.

Sources: Galerie Fons Welters · Valiz catalogue · NRC review