By Feras Shaheen in collaboration with Jonny Scholes
Based on Feras Shaheen’s experience of maintaining Palestinian identity within diaspora, ‘Blocked Duwar’ explores the simultaneous frustration and resilience of forced separation from your Indigenous homeland. Set within an imagined Palestine—pieced together from fragmented memories, family records and digital remnants—Shaheen’s struggle for self-determination is explored through dance performance that blends video game technology, sound, user interface and experience design. ‘Blocked Duwar’ considers the agency of the public, asking viewers to confront their own role in local and global systems of power, the perpetuation of propaganda, and the liberation of Indigenous people.
Director – Feras Shaheen
Lead Artists – Feras Shaheen and Jonny Scholes
Musician – Majdi Jelda
Dramaturg – Jazz Money
Lighting Designer – Fausto Brusamolino
Costume Designer – Noah Johnson
Sound Designers – Jenny Trinh and Dylan Mangunay
Movement Consultant – Efren Pamilacan
Cultural Advisors – Seraj Jelda, Majdi Jelda and Ashraf Dowani
Commissioned and produced by Campbelltown Arts Centre and presented in association with the 25th Biennale of Sydney. ‘Blocked Duwar’ has been supported by Arts Tasmania and assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
