Hezzi Ya Nawa3em
Acrylic and oil on canvas, 122 cm x 91 cm (48 in x 36 in), 2025
Drawing from Maroun Tomb’s title, Two Kids, the work is inspired by footage of children dancing in refugee camps amid the recent genocide in Gaza. The videos demonstrate that resilience exists in the name of hope and joy while reconciling the pain of loss. Amid the genocide, Ridikkuluz’s own practice has pivoted towards pain and devastation through fables and children’s stories as metaphor. By adapting the popular nursery rhyme Jack and Jill – where they go up a hill to fetch a bucket of water– the two kids are seen dancing at the bottom of a hill next to a full bucket of water despite the looming wa7ish (beast) that is eyeing them from above. Palestinian joy is true resistance.
RIDIKKULUZ is a Palestinian-Egyptian-Jordanian multidisciplinary artist based in New York. Their figurative work memorializes family, chosen family, and the self while investigating religious, decolonial, cultural, and queer themes. Ridikkuluz belongs to the ballroom community as a member of the Haus of Telfar.