News

Theatrical presentation in Frascati  | Nov ‘2018

A twenty minute public theatrical presentation of a two week research on post traumatic stress disorder among police agents in Amsterdam, commissioned by Frascati theater as part of the program ‘Frascati Issues: de (On)vertelde stad’ (The (Un)told city). The presentation includes a concept proposal for developing a theatrical performance after further research.

https://www.frascatitheater.nl/stadslab2-frascati-issues

Expert meeting Displaced in Media | Feb ‘2018

I will be participating in the second European meeting for journalists and activists working with minorities, refugees and marginalised communities to develop trainings, tools, platforms and networks for including their voices in the public and political sector. It is a project by the European Cultural Foundation, and this meeting will be taking place in Seville and is hosted by http://www.zemos98.org. Together with Chris Keulemans I have facilitated the first meeting in Amsterdam last year. http://www.culturalfoundation.eu/media-activism/

Round Table: On Languages, Exile and Migration at the Festival Cabaret of Curiosity | 17 Mar’2018

At theater Le Phenix in Valenciennes, France. Curated by Geoliane Arab. http://scenenationale.lephenix.fr/programmation/cabaret-de-curiosites-2018/langues-et-migrations-isolation-ou-rayonnement/

Published Article in Rekto Verso | Mar’2018

On Re-imagining the Ethnographic Museum, and ‘Decolonizing’ Ourselves: reflections by Lina Issa, Wayne Modest and Simone Zeefuik. https://www.rektoverso.be

Group Exhibition and performance | May 2018

Arrival City, Art-Lab Berlin im Iphonedoctor, Berlin. Curator Charlotte Banks. https://artlabberlin.wordpress.com

Art Residency  | 2018

- French Cultural Institute, Palermo | April & June 2018

Collecting stories of the people of Palermo and creating a public presentation/performance. together with the writer Francois Beaune and the documentary maker Hind Meddeb.

- National Museum of World Cultures |  Mar’2018-Sep’2018

I will soon start my second phase of residency at the ‘Research Center for Material Culture’, hosted by the national Museum of World Cultures, in The Netherlands.

It is a European project where 10 museums in Europe are participating. I am asked to explore new narratives between the collections, the staff and the public, in the frame of the discussions about citizenship and belonging in contemporary Europe. http://www.swich-project.eu/

 

Inclusivity LAB | 2018

Together with Art Partner and other artists and politicians, I am developing a creative LAB to explore forms of inclusivity and achieving social justice within organisations, which can be opened for an interested public and clients.

Writing a Book | 2016-2018

I am at the moment working on my first book. It is a literary non-fiction based on my project ‘Where we are not’. It will be published in 2018, first in Dutch by the publishing house Van Oorschot.

‘Where we are not’ is not about anywhere, but about those places we carry with us in our bodies. The places that are part of us, and as well, that have made us who we are.
In 2006, As a student from Lebanon, I was denied her residence permit in The Netherlands for strictly bureaucratic reasons. Since she appealed against this decision, she was not able to leave The Netherlands and re-enter the country. Not being able to travel home herself, she cast a replacement and sent Aitana, a Spanish choreographer, to Lebanon for 10 days as her stand-in, messenger and recording device. Aitana visited different people –Lina’s family and friends, and traced the places of Lina’s memory and what constitutes the idea of ‘home’ to her. Aitana performed lots of ‘tasks’ that Lina gave her in a hand written notebook and she wrote impressions and experiences in a notebook. Both notebooks play a major role in the performance.

Grants | 2017 | 2018
Mondrian Fonds: VUmc (Medical University, Amsterdam) got the budget they applied for from the Mondriaan Fonds, with which they can continue working with me on “Cultural Sensitivity and Empathy” in Medical Education.
Mondriaan Fonds honours the ‘representative’ way VUmc addresses the decline in empathy and the lack of cultural sensitivity among the staff and the students. They honour the special way and sensitivity I work with on these subjects, as an artist, in collaboration with Art Partner, in the context of the university.
We have been working since 2012 on this project, and now I can use this budget to work on a film I’ve been hoping to make for a while. I am grateful for this beautiful moment of recognition.

Comenius: Our project at the VUmc is also awarded the Comenius scholarship from the ministry of culture and education, to develop an innovative educational module for the masters program addressing the issue of ‘equal chances’ for medical students which do not fit in the dominant norm of the medical world.

Award Nomination | 2017

I am very happy, grateful and honored to be among the artists nominated for the Herman Divendal Award 2017, for my artistic practice focusing on empathy and creating ‘bridges’ between different cultures and groups of people and individuals. The winner will be announced in February.  http://www.indenvreemde.org/herman-divendal-award/nominaties-2017/

Programming | 2016-2017

I am part of the programming committee of the “Dancing on the Edge festival”, which will take place in 4 cities in The Netherlands between 7-18 Nov 2017. Dancing on the Edge presents and promotes Middle Eastern/North African (performing) arts, and provides a platform for talented artists from this region, who produce original, relevant, vital and creative work. http://www.dancingontheedge.nl/