sorry for being shit at news!
Dear people who look at other people’s websites: I am sorry to be very bad at updating this “news section” of my website and relatively crappy at self-promotion. The world does not need more self-promoters. Those of you who are registered to receive my newsletter will also realise that I send those once or twice a year. But I do regularly add the “upcoming shows” on each project page. In bullet points, here are some updates from the past year: I continue to tour Gardens Speak. It has been touring across the world since 2014, and receiving the nicest feedback. I am grateful for everyone who has worked on the piece, hosted it, and experienced it. It’s the project closest to my heart. You can read the latest review in The New York Times. I was very pleased that Gardens Speak showed in Lebanon at the beautiful Station Beirut during Spring Festival. L’Orient Le Jour kindly chose […]
I was awarded the International Live Art Prize 2017!
I am deeply honoured and grateful to have been awarded the ANTI festival International Live Art Prize 2017. The award is very important as it is one of its kind internationally and one of the most generous art prizes. It is also particularly special to me as it comes from a festival that researches and practices the intersection of live art and politics. The award ceremony in Kuopio, Finland was a lot of fun. I met incredible artists such as South African artist Sethembile Msezane who was one of the nominees this year and last year’s winner Finnish artist Terike Haapoja. I look forward to be making work with the dream team at the festival in Kuopio next year. Stay tuned! The jury consisted of Fiona Winning, formerly the Head of Programming at the Sydney Opera House, Lois Keidan (co-founder of the Live Art Development Agency, previously Director of Live […]
Interview with Badr Baabo
I conducted an interview with one of Tunisia’s most prominent LGBTQI activists! Listen here
Residency in Sydney
I spent the month of March 2015 in Sydney for a residency at Campbelltown Arts Centre, part of Swarm project. I am lucky to be working alongside incredibly talented artists, Bhenji Ra, Matt Prest, Amala Groom and Denis Beaubois curated by Branch Nebula and produced by Frances Francis. Each one of us will create a site-specific piece on Queen Street in Campbelltown. The research period was eye-opening, we met various communities and discovered local struggles and practices. I am looking forward to learn more about aboriginal poetry of resistance, and to continue to work with the young parkour group and test the power of “sound weapon” devices.
Gardens Speak work-in-progress at Artsadmin
I will be showing a preview of my current project Gardens Speak at Artsadmin, London on 6 March before it goes on a tour starting with Next Wave Festival in Melbourne, Australia.
Stories Of Refuge – article and video
I’ve published an article on Jadaliyya about the experience of working with three newly-arrived asylum seekers in Munich. You can also watch one of the videos shot by the participants/collaborators on this link. “Stories of Refuge” was developed with Petra Serhal (from Dictaphone Group) and commissioned by Spielart Festival.
Artist Bursary from Artsadmin
Honoured to have been awarded an artist bursary from Artsadmin. The generous scheme allows artists to have the space and time needed to focus on a project development or research. I am using this opportunity to continue my research on the intersection of live art and protest focusing on the Arab Uprisings. I will also take advantage of the beautiful space of Toynbee Studios to test out my new work in March. Will be sending invites for this soon!
Dictaphone Group residency at Watermill Centre
I am in New York with Petra and Abir, my collaborators in Dictaphone Group. We are heading to the amazing Watermill Center for a two week residency! We will be working on a lecture performance entitled “Nothing to Declare” on the question of borders and defunct trains. If you are around, come to our work-in-progress showing at the Watermill Center on 19 April.
‘Maybe if you choreograph me you will feel better’ at Performa 2012 in November
The trailer video from my one-on-one performance Maybe If You Choreograph Me You Will Feel Better will be screened as part of a series of films on performance during Performa Festival in Maribor, Slovenia. If you’re at Performa, come by. I will be speaking after the screening. Watch video here.
National Theatre Attachment
During the first part of November, my producer Jessica Harrington and I will be doing an attachment at the National Theatre Studio. We will be spending two weeks researching my next project ‘Gardens Speak.’ At this point, we will be looking at the design, the layout, and the technical production of the piece. The content of the work has been an ongoing research and will be put together at a later point. Grateful for National Theatre Studio and Laura Collier for this wonderful opportunity!