HIPSTER INTIFADA (Wereldwijd, 2009)

Like the portrait of Che Guevara, the keffiya (the ‘Palestinian scarf’) can be a conscious political statement, but it can also be a fashion accessory with little or no thought behind it. When Wouter den Bakker wore a keffiya as a teenager, he did not take the possible reactions of Jewish classmates into account. Is the symbol still that charged? Den Bakker began photographing keffiya wearers in 2007, followed discussions on the internet, and also began to collect visual materials that were available there. It became clear to him that the meaning of the keffiya rests primarily on suggestion. He decided to strip the photographs out of their context and show them alongside one another – whether they were of Fatah supporters or Hollywood stars, professional footballers or fashionistas. ‘It is not the chameleon-like keffiya itself,’ he concludes, ‘but the visual language used that determines what statement is being made’.