SAFE ZONE is the title of an original mixed media drawing on paper that depicts the genocide in Gaza. It is also the title of a project that aims to raise awareness of this genocide by means of reproductions of the SAFE ZONE drawing in various media. Â
SAFE ZONE, graphite, absolute black acrylic, and watercolor on paper, 80 x 80 cm, 2025.
The original SAFE ZONE is a drawing in graphite, watercolor, and absolute black acrylic paint on a 80 x 80 centimeter watercolor paper. The drawing depicts scenes of the genocide in Gaza based on Gazans’ social media posts and photos and videos published by news sources over the course of 2024. The format of the drawing is a black and white QR code, whereby the black squares depict dead people and the white squares people who are still struggling through the horrors of genocide. The format and title derive from the flyers which the Israeli army drops by drones over areas where they want Gazans to displace from. These flyers invariably display a QR code with more precise instructions to relocate to so called “Humanitarian Safe Zones.”Â
Israeli displacement flyer
The QR code of the SAFE ZONE drawing leads to a dedicated webpage SAFE ZONE which explains the displacement process and which contains all the original screenshots of source material with links to the original online sources. Â
SAFE ZONE drawing installed at the Art Gaza exhibition GENOCIDE COMES AS NO SURPRISE in June 2025. Prints of the displacement flyers are scattered on the floor beneath the drawing.
The larger SAFE ZONE project aims to raise awareness of the ethnic cleansing by means of QR codes on displacement flyers. It consists of a digital reproduction of the SAFE ZONE image that is reproduced in different media on a wide variety of scales, from the size of a postage stamp to meters long signs that are used in demonstrations. All reproductions lead to the same website.
SAFE ZONE alu print of the photo reproduction, edition of 50.
SAFE ZONE, digital photographic reproduction of the SAFE ZONE drawing, 2025.
SAFE ZONE sign at Palestine vigil in June 2025
SAFE ZONE photo reproduction used in printed flyers for the Art Gaza exhibition GENOCIDE COMES AS NO SURPRISE in June 2025.