This Body of Ours

At Nieuwe Vide
Nieuwe Vide is transformed by This Body of Ours (Dit Lichaam van Ons) into a showcase of themselves as artists and cartoonists, with highlighted and enlarged images, sketches, character designs from the comic book and new work was created during the residency in DOC4. In this way, the exhibition becomes a physical extension of the book ‘This Body of Ours’, launched by the collective in May 2024.

The concept of the cadavre exquis, where each person draws a body part without knowing what the previous body part looks like, is carried out on a large scale at Nieuwe Vide. It will provide an ever-growing and developing picture of the diversity of identities in the Dutch comics world and environment.

After the Stripdagen Haarlem, this exhibition will remain on display until September 29th, 2024.

ZineFest 1st of June
In the middle of the exhibition, (Femi)Zine (Mani)Fest took place on June 1st, a zine fest in collaboration with The Young Feminist Collective (JongFems Haarlem). All kinds of (zine) makers show and/or sell zines, merch and more with a feminist character.

Sterric June 1, 5:30 PM
Comic maker Sterric will share her favorite comics and inspirations with us and invite the audience to bring and share their own books! This is an opportunity to come together as comics enthusiasts, discover new comics, make friends, and develop during the busy days of Stripdagen Haarlem.

Flash tattoos by Leyla Ali 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Leyla is an illustrator and DLVO member, with a great love for primary colors and bold lines. She enjoys working on projects focused on social justice and for film and animation festivals. Her favorite activity is drawing characters and experimenting with different materials. Her latest obsession is animation and tattooing. She makes special flash zinefest tattoos for June 1! You can send her a DM for a time slot. @leyla_ali_illustration on instagram.

Panel/Brunch 2nd Of June
During the Stripdagen Haarlem, a panel discussion will take place in the exhibition on the 2nd of June (with brunch, 12:00h) and there will be an intersectional reading corner/hang out. The panel will consist of Abe Borst, (This Body of Ours) Mina Rassouli (Artez alumnus 2022), Herman Roozen ((former) Comic Maker of the Netherlands), with moderator: Sigge Stegeman.
Generation gap or generalization nonsense? A conversation about the future and the past between three generations of comics makers.

About the publication This Body of Ours (Dit Lichaam van Ons)
‘This body of ours’ is a Dutch anthology of 120 pages. Eight comic strip creators each develop a graphic story, while the ninth cartoonist, together with a designer, is involved in designing the book.

Too often, comics only get attention when they are educational or informative. In ‘This Body of Ours’ the cartoonists are given the freedom to decide for themselves which stories they want to tell. So the book becomes pulpy, funny, personal and yes, even pornographic!

To give structure to this colorful and diverse book, use ‘the body’ as a guideline. As a result, there are three ‘chapters’: Head, Heart and Legs. In this way, we create stories that make us think, stories that touch us emotionally, and stories that help us face the future. In this way, the comic collection forms a cadavre exquis of the group.

This project was made possible by crowdfunding platform Voordekunst, Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie,Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunsten, Pictoright Fund, Mondriaan Fonds and Stripdagen Haarlem in collaboration with Nieuwe Vide and DOC4 (residency of Nieuwe Vide & 37PK)