As Far As Isolation Goes (Online)

CREDITS & BIOS

Credits

Produced by Artsadmin

Song Conception: Basel Zaraa
Music Production: Peter Churchill
Vocals and Lyrics: Jazzar & Shamma Iqbal
Wall Writing: Steaz
Image: Basel Zaraa

Work originally commissioned by the Sick of the Fringe 2019. Online version commissioned by GIFT 2020.

About Tania El Khoury

Tania El Khoury is a live artist creating installations and performances focused on audience interactivity and concerned with the ethical and political potential of such encounters. She is a Distinguished Artist in Residence of Theater and Performance and Director of the OSUN Center for Human Rights & The Arts at Bard College, New York. Her work has been presented in multiple languages across six continents. She was a 2019 Soros Art Fellow and the recipient of the Bessies Outstanding Production Award, the International Live Art Prize, the Total Theatre Innovation Award, and the Arches Brick Award. Tania holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from Royal Holloway, University of London. She is associated with Forest Fringe collective of artists in the UK and is a co-founder of Dictaphone Group in Lebanon, a research and performance collective aiming at questioning our relationship to the city and redefining its public space.

About Basel Zaraa

Basel Zaraa is a Birmingham-based Palestinian performer, musician, and stencil graffiti artist whose work explores how war, occupation, and displacement are experienced through the everyday struggles of his people. Since 2016 he has collaborated with Tania El Khoury on As Far As My Fingertips Take Me and As Far As Isolation Goes, two one-to-one installations that use painting, touch, and sound to connect audience members with the stories and struggles of refugees. As a musician and rapper, he has collaborated with a range of artists including Akala, Lowkey, and Katibeh Khamseh, and has toured the UK and internationally with PsycheDELIGHT’s Borderline. He is part of Alleyway Radical Theatre, which combines hip-hop with shadow theatre. Since the Covid outbreak, he has been performing a digital reworking of As Far As Isolation Goes, and is currently working on Dear Laila, an immersive installation commissioned by Good Chance Theatre which recreates childhood memories through a miniature replica of his family home.

As Far As Isolation Goes (Online)

FAQs

Reservations

How do I purchase a student ticket?
- Use the Passloff Pass code, or call the Box Office at 845-758-7900.
What if multiple people in my household wish to attend?
- Each performance is an individual experience between the artist and one audience member. For that reason, please only reserve one ticket per person. Members of the same household should make separate reservations.
What if I cannot attend on the day/time I reserved for?
- Please call the Box Office as soon as possible (845-758-7900). We will do our best to reschedule you, if possible. Please note there is limited inventory.
What if I’d like to purchase a ticket for someone else?
- Please call the Box Office at 845-758-7900.

Preparing for the event

Tech preparation
- Before the event, you must download the Zoom App on the device you will be using for the performance. Click to download Zoom video conferencing app.
- Please use the same name you used to book your tickets for your Zoom name. This will speed up the process of you being admitted.
- Remove watches or jewelry from your arms.
- Wear short sleeves or loose sleeves that can be rolled up to above the elbows.
- Sit in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed, with a good internet connection
- Laptop or desktop computers are preferred. If using a mobile phone or tablet, please use a tripod or stand.
- Close any other open internet browser tabs.
Materials Needed
- A medium black permanent marker pen (don't worry, permanent marker can be washed off skin, or fades by itself).
- Headphones connected to the device you’ll be using.
- Glass of water
- Paintbrush (any size)
- Tissue or cloth

What to expect during the event

The Zoom link provided will bring you to a virtual lobby where you will be greeted by a member of the Fisher Center’s Front of House team to make sure everything is working and you have all the necessary materials.
The performance is a tactile experience. The artist will guide you through the experience with verbal and visual instructions.
Timing
- Please Note: Late entry is not permitted for this performance. Anyone who arrives in the virtual lobby less than two minutes before their scheduled performance start time may lose their original time slot.
- Please let us know of any changes to your reservation as soon as possible by calling the Box Office at 845-758-7900.
- The estimated runtime for the performance is ~15–20 minutes.
Event times are listed in GMT-5/Eastern Standard Time. This website offers an easy to use timezone converter.

Accessibility

Language options
- AFAIG is offered in both English and Arabic; you can select either when reserving your tickets, or, if you have already booked and would like to indicate a different language preference, please call the Box Office at 845-758-7900.
Photosensitive Effects
- None

Accessing the event

Instructions on how to access the event will be emailed to you from the Fisher Center Box Office after you reserve your ticket.

A follow-up email will be sent the day of the event, from boxoffice@bard.edu.

If you have any additional questions or technical issues, please contact the Box Office by calling 845-758-7900 or emailing boxoffice@bard.edu.

As Far As Isolation Goes (Online)

TANIA EL KHOURY AND BASEL ZARAA

As Far As Isolation Goes (Online) is a collaboration between live artist Tania El Khoury and musician and street artist Basel Zaraa. Reimagined for an online context during coronavirus lockdown, the piece is built from their original collaboration entitled As Far As My Fingertips Take Me in which El Khoury commissioned Zaraa to record a rap song inspired by the journey his sisters made from Damascus to Sweden.

In As Far As Isolation Goes, Zaraa and El Khoury worked together to create another iteration of their previous piece focused on mental and physical health experiences of refugees in the United Kingdom. Zaraa created a song inspired by conversations with friends and colleagues who have recently claimed refuge in the UK.

In this online, interactive, 1-on-1 performance As Far As Isolation Goes (Online) uses touch, sound, and interactivity to bring audience members in contact with those faced with inhumane detention centers and a mental health system that disregard their political and emotional contexts.

Share your experience on social

Please consider sharing the drawing on your arm on social media using the hashtag #AFAIG21 and tagging @fishercenterbard on Instagram or Facebook, or email it to us at fishercenter@bard.edu.