30.05 – 12.07
Our ever expanding body: creating a network of queer visual storytellers – Dit Lichaam van Ons (This Body of Ours)
Finissage: Saturday July 12th, 14:00- 17:00
INTRODUCTION
Composting the experiences and lessons learned during the Dit Lichaam van Ons exhibition during and beyond Stripdagen Haarlem 2024, Nieuwe Vide and artist collective Dit Lichaam van Ons return to the collaboration with a new (re)generation of queer visual storytellers.
In 2024 Dit Lichaam van Ons published a manifesto for the future of Dutch comics: a future in which manifold expression, joy, and artistic experimentation play center stage and we acknowledge and embrace our past as a pulp medium rather than disown it for acceptance in the mainstream. An important aspect of this approach was also that it becomes more commonplace to pay artists fairly for their contributions and professionalise the comics world.
THEN AND NOW
Now, four members of the Dit Lichaam van Ons Collective (Abe Borst, Dido Drachman, Gus Møystad and Saint Theophanu) will return in a new collaborative cycle of the collective’s intention to inspire and grow the Dutch queer comics scene. After two years of composting, Dit Lichaam returns with a mentorship program titled “Our Ever-Expanding Body,” in which mentees are paired with mentors to develop a new exhibition and to develop themselves artistically and exchange ideas.
CADAVRE EXQUIS
Central to the book and the collective’s approach is the concept of the cadavre exquis, where each person draws a body part without knowing what the previous body part looks like. This metaphor came to stand for its view of the comics world at large, where a multitude of people with different ideas and backgrounds can come together in one medium.
Inspired by Nieuwe Vide’s organisational principles for social change ‘Composting Politics’, members of the collective have picked up their spades and returned to the project with a renewed ambition to make it a long-term presence in the (comics) art world. In this way, we wish to foster sustainable practices with lasting positive impacts for young, queer comics artists. By employing a cyclical and regenerative approach, we take with us what we have learned from the first iteration and change and improve where necessary, experimenting with a new approach, which still embraces a speculative, hopeful, intention to circumvent the limitations of current reality and imagine new futures for the comics world grounded in social justice and intersectional politics.
NOW
In this cycle of Dit Lichaam, we will be developing a network of young, queer visual storytellers in which members can mutually support each other, share knowledge, and learn from one another. During this long-term project, we will invite young, queer visual storytellers (late-stage students or recent graduates) to partake in a mentorship programme.
Together, the participants have developed an exhibition at Nieuwe Vide as a kick-off for this collaboration. This exhibition features murals by mentors and mentees which make a new cadavre exquis of the future of Dit Licham van Ons.
WORKS AND ARTISTS
WILL MATUSZCZYK (he/him) – Wszechświat (The Universe)
“With every day there is another night, and with every night there is another day. The stars and the clouds constantly dance around, while letting us stay and behold their magnificence. I suppose this is how being alive feels sometimes, even when knowing we are but a speck of dust in the vast universe.”
Biography
Codename: Will is a Rotterdam-based illustration student from Poland. In his works, he explores human connection to nature and the chaotic way of life while searching for his place in the universe, including meaning and name.
Through vibrant colors, flowing and sharp lines, he transforms what he sees into something different and more personal, while creating stories and characters to accompany him on his journey.
Website: https://royalmilktea.cargo.site
Instagram: @_royal_milk_tea
DIDO DRACHMAN (they/them) – Celeste and Maxime
“On why I chose this piece.
On why I chose this piece, a work born from an old love into a new and hastily picked and deeply personal. Who are they, you ask?
Are they women or men? Would it matter?
And why is one dying? Is that not a cliché? And then in such uniform-looking clothes?
They’re not dying, although hurt,
they are neither, or maybe both,
and I like uniforms, okay?”
Biography
Dido Drachman (1992) is a graphic novelist based in Amsterdam.Dido paints to create atmospheric images, with a keen eye for color and design. Their stories are dreamy and intimate, inspired by the emotional world, the fine arts, underlying grief, and history.
Drachman has worked for Advalvas, AUP (Amsterdam University Press), Het SpeelKaartenmuseum in Turnhout, and the OranjeHotel, among others.
In 2020, Drachman debuted with the sensitive graphic novel Zwanendrifters (Scratch Books). Their first children’s book is Het Begon met Peper (2025, Gottmer), about the history of the Netherlands and Indonesia.
Website: https://www.didodrachman.com/
Instagram: @didodrachman
LAURENT BROEKE – Holy Trinity
“This work shows a threesome of three women with the Ouroboros snake on top of them. Symbolising that queer sex is eternal, has always existed and will always exist.”
Biography
Laurent Broeke is a queer artist that likes anything out of the norm
Instagram: @laurent.broeke
MAX VAN MEEUWEN (they/them)– The Wrestlers
“The act of wrestling captures bodies in a state of violence, but also of closeness. Locked together, competing, but also holding.”
Biography
Max van Meeuwen is a Dutch-Australian artist based in the Netherlands. They graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, where they specialised in printmaking within the Jewellery Linking Bodies department. Their work explores the body as a language, how we communicate through our bodies. Through printmaking, animation, writing, drawing and painting they examine hunger, desire and appetite as gesture and sensation, and the place where intimacy and violence meet.
Website: www.maxvanmeeuwen.com
Instagram: @girlmax
NINO BULLING (they/them) – A break, extended
“I originally made this drawing for Colorama’s Clubhouse anthology #20. The book is titled Crushing, and I thought of friend crushes (the best crushes in my opinion), or even the group crush where feelings may be directed not at a person but a constellation of people. In my experience, group constellations have a tendency to be fleeting, so this drawing fixes a little moment in time when things are good, conflict is at bay, and rest in each others’ presence is possible.”
Biography
Nino Bulling (1986) is an artist and author from Berlin with a focus on comics, textiles, and publishing strategies.
Nino has published several comic books shaped by a strong interest in visual politics, including ‘Bruchlinien. Drei Episoden zum NSU’ and ‘Lichtpause’. Their graphic novel ‘abfackeln / firebugs’ was originally published as part of their contribution to documenta 15 in Kassel, alongside an exhibition and an extensive public program centered on trans and queer strategies in graphic publishing.
During their upcoming residency in Kyoto, Nino will explore gender-nonconforming characters in manga from the 1960s and 70s, with a particular focus on Osamu Tezuka’s “Princess Knight” (Ribon no Kishi).
Website: www.ninobulling.net/
Instagram: @nino_pauli
ABE BORST (he/him) – Rat is Art
“At some point rats entered my brain and made me draw rats. I draw a lot of rats, when I don’t know what to draw, but I do feel the urge to create, I start with a rat to gain momentum. And you can’t spell rat without misspelling art, so, uhm, make of that what you will. The rats in my brain are now requesting snacks, so I have to go.”
Biography
Abe Borst (1989) is a comic book artist living and working in Arnhem. He’s one of the first alumni of the Comic Design course at ArtEZ in Zwolle and is currently freelancing through Studio Funny Farm where he makes a variety of work: From ego-centric gag comics to serious comics with social value, from illustrations for kids’ books to infographics for big companies, and from cartoons about God to barbarian gay-porn.
Abe is known for his diary-comic ‘Squabe’, the comic cookbook ‘Smikkelen en Smullen’, and Kidsweek’s ‘Zoo & Zo’. Other works of Abe have been published in Zij aan Zij, UIT and Tabletop RPG-zine Not A Mimic. He also works as a live cartoonist and gives workshops to both children and adults.
Website: www.squabe.nl
Instagram: @abe_borst
DESMOND (he/they)– Gynaíka
“Gynaíka. Woman. Dame. With this piece I wanted to honour the stunning profiles of masculine Grecian statues, and the feminine beauty of a character part of an upcoming publication — to be released by Burning Desk — centered around queer women in the age of sail. I also happen to hold a deep fondness in my heart for handsome women, and this mural encapsulates exactly that.”
Biography
Desmond is a 21-year-old comic artist and illustrator hailing from Rotterdam, bringing with him a fondness for butch identity, 18th century history and cultures of the world. Growing up biracial themself, they dedicate their work to the beauty that colonialism tried to hide.
Website: https://viidorival.myportfolio.com
Instagram: @slurron6
GUUS MØYSTAD (he/him)– Armoured
“I’m fascinated by the borders and vulnerabilities of the body, both physical and emotional. Armour is an attempt to protect oneself from the outside world, but the slings and arrows of fate will still find ways to bring us to our knees.”
Biography
Guus Møystad (1992) is a visual artist, writer and storyteller based in Amsterdam. His work weaves story, text, image, truth and fiction in and out of each other. He draws from history, fantasy and folklore, and is fascinated by the boundaries and vulnerabilities of the body. His comics and illustrations have appeared in various print and online magazines and platforms, including Wobby, Stripgids, and Hard//Hoofd. In addition to this he self-publishes and sells work, and produces a cyberzine called ‘Letters from Skemer.’
Website: www.gusmoystad.org
Instagram: @goose.moystad
NDEH MONTEIRO – Sharing Music
“This piece is about the queer joy of being able to be your true self around the
people you love. This illustration shows my friend and me waiting on the train while sharing the music we’ve been listening to recently. It shows how being around other queer people can turn overwhelming or uninviting spaces into cozy and safe spaces.”
Biography
Ndeh is a 24-year-old Illustrator and concept artist from Eindhoven with a passion for making comics and visual development. As a queer and biracial artist he believes that by being able to appreciate everyday life and having strong social bonds, life gets a lot more joyful. Especially if your environment isn’t always accepting. That’s why his illustrations focus on the beauty of everyday environments and healthy and meaningful relationships between characters.
Website: ndehmonteiro.wixsite.com/artistportfolio
Instagram: @ndehmonteiro_art
SAINT THEOPHANU – Circus
“Between surrender and performance lays a colourful line. A role that can be both restrictive and freeing, how you perform the role
In this life that feels like a circus is up to you.”
Biography
Saint Theophanu is a visual artist, comic artist, and party animal. Their appearance can be dated to a time around their first publication in 2024, but given their severe allergy to burning sage, Saint Theophanu believes they’ve been here much longer. Their first comic appeared in This Body of Ours (2024). Their dancing demons were in the exhibition at Nieuwe Vide in 2024, and since then, their fascination with fetish, bondage, and Catholicism has only grown.
