Like a River
Design + Editor
Coming from a background in anthropology, American queer artist Daniel Jack Lyons traveled to the Amazon to photograph the trans and queer communities of the region. Like a River explores how deep indigenous traditions and modern identity politics meet in a celebratory safe space—found deep in the lush canopies and vegetation of the rainforest. Captured under the guidance of the community-based organization Casa do Rio, Lyons’ empowering images celebrate the coming-of-age impulse to express and affirm your individuality. They present the challenge of defining your own identity, both as an individual and as a tribe member, in a space where many worry their culture and way of life is being devalued.
This series gives a voice to a group of young people from various tribes and backgrounds living at the base of the Tupana river. The river is a recurring thread throughout the project—both a metaphor for the Amazon’s queer community and the lifeforce of their indigenous culture. Some of those portrayed identify as indigenous, others as trans/queer, or both, and many are driven to different forms of activism by the state-sanctioned violence directed their way. Others are simply teenagers surviving on the margins; rappers, skaters, drag performers, musicians.
Tjade designed the visual identity of the exhibition, in collaboration with the Melkweg Expo. Roxy was responsible for editing the exhibition text.
Year: 2023
event photography © Françoise Bolechowski
I went on a holiday to the country you fled from
Design + Editor
"You can be my ears and my eyes, basically you'll be touching the same earth, breathing the same air that I breathed when I was little."
Guided by these words spoken by Mexican author and trans woman Alejandra Ortiz, Dutch cisgender documentary photographer Iris Haverkamp Begemann went on a holiday to the country Alejandra fled from—Mexico. After forming a unique friendship based on mutual trust and understanding, their connection sparked this communal multimedia project in 2021. Led by Alejandra’s instructions and hand-printed maps drawn from memory, Iris travelled to Mexico to visit meaningful locations from Alejandra’s childhood. The map guided Iris to places where Alejandra felt both loved and cared for, but also extremely unsafe, marginalised and rejected by her own family. Shown alongside Alejandra’s personal messages and childhood stories, Iris’s photo series presents a visual diary capturing Alejandra’s memories of a birthplace she had to leave behind, and to which she cannot return.
Tjade designed the exhibition, in collaboration in the Melkweg Expo. Roxy was responsible for all the exhibition texts.
+ Melkweg Expo: I went on a holiday to the country you fled from
Year: 2022
event photography © Françoise Bolechowski
Eyes on Robert
Art Direction + Design + Editor
Eyes on Robert is an exhibition inspired by the iconic Robert Mapplethorpe, featuring new work created by a diverse group of contemporary queer photographers.
Tjade co-curated and designed the exhibition, in collaboration with Melkweg Expo and Holland Festival. Roxy was responsible for the exhibition texts and all accompanying press communications.
Photographers: Ari Versluis, Daan Couzijn, Dustin Thierry, Dylan van Vliet, Ferry van der Nat, Henri Verhoef, Martijn Mendel and Vytautas Kumža.
+ Melkweg Expo: Eyes on Robert
Year: 2019
event photography © Françoise Bolechowski