Activestills was formed by activist photographers who wanted to document and support Palestinian popular resistance. What started as a small group has grown into a larger collective of Palestinian and international photographers, as well as Israelis who reject Israeli settler colonialism, while understanding their position as being part of it. The collective sees its work as part of the struggle against all forms of oppression, racism, and violations of the basic right to freedom. Activestills’ constantly evolving online archive consists of more than 60,000 photos documenting life and death under Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid.
Since 2005, the Activestills collective has been documenting Israeli colonial violence and Palestinian resistance. The exhibition Documenting Life, Death, and Resistance in Palestine presents a visual narrative that spans two decades of struggle, shedding light on continuities of violence culminating in Israel’s present-day genocidal war on Gaza – while also portraying moments of Palestinian resistance and everyday resilience amidst incessant oppression and dehumanisation.
The exhibition, last shown in the Finnish Museum of Photography and now coming to Berlin, includes documentation of attacks on Gaza and the current genocide, the ongoing ethnic cleansing across Palestine, as well as the remains of villages depopulated by Zionist forces in 1948.
Activestills’ work strives to portray Palestinians not only as victims but also as individuals and a diverse people with political agency in their struggle. The collective perceives its continuous practice of documentation and archiving as a form of counter-narrative, as well as decolonial memory and knowledge production. Hence actively challenging dominant media representations and hegemonic historiographies, while resisting the delegitimisation, silencing, and erasure of Palestinian lives and heritage.
In the German context, Activestills – Documenting Life, Death, and Resistance in Palestine plays a vital role in destabilising the often tendentious discourse within the dominant political and media landscape by centering Palestinian perspectives and experiences.
The exhibition further seeks to pay tribute to and demand justice for the ever-increasing number of Palestinian journalists, photographers, and media workers killed since October 2023, honouring their vital role in documenting and disseminating truth in the face of targeted assaults.
An extensive event programme will accompany the exhibition, including panel discussions, artist talks, a film screening and guided tours.
