PURCHASE TICKETS (for Sept 6–9, 12–14 PII Gallery shows only)
“His tale doesn’t just touch me in a fleeting way—as the many stories and images reported in the newspapers do—it goes further. It marks me.” Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
Two Venues
PII Gallery
242 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (Old City)
September 6–9, 12–14
Wed-Fri: 3pm-5pm, 6pm-8pm Sat, Sun: 2pm-4pm, 5pm-7pm
$15 / 12 minutes
PURCHASE TICKETS Performances begin every 15 minutes for an audience of one. Sign up for a time slot when you purchase your ticket. Please plan to arrive 10 minutes before your performance time.
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Bryn Mawr College
Taft Garden, between Goodhart Hall and Canaday Library
101 North Merion Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
September 15, 16, 19–23
Wed-Fri: 3pm–5pm, 6pm–8pm Sat, Sun: 2pm–4pm, 5pm–7pm
Free / 12 minutes
Performances begin every 15 minutes for an audience of one. At Bryn Mawr, there are no advance reservations. Audiences sign up on a first-come, first-served basis. Arrive early to get your name on the list and enjoy other installations while you wait.
This 12-minute, one-on-one installation performance is an encounter through a gallery wall between a single audience member and a refugee. Their fingertips touch without them seeing each other. The refugee marks the audience member with the story of a family’s journey from Syria to Sweden as the audience member listens on headphones to those who have challenged border discrimination. When the performance ends, those stories can be kept or washed away.
As Far As My Fingertips Take Me is made in collaboration with Basel Zaraa, who is from Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees in Syria. He is a rap and street artist, and the work is inspired by the journey his sisters made.
Created by Tania El Khoury Performed by Basel Zaraa Song by Basel Zaraa (vocals, bass and keyboard) with Emily Churchill Zaraa (vocals), Pete Churchill (music production), and Katie Stevens (flute and clarinet).
Commissioned by “On the Move” LIFT 2016 in partnership with Royal Court Theatre, London.
Writing about As Far As My Fingertips Take Me, art critic Lyn Garder explained in The Guardian, “His tale doesn’t just touch me in a fleeting way — as the many stories and images reported in the newspapers do – it goes further. It marks me. For the next few days I will carry it around with me. It is part of me, not easily ignored or washed away. Every time I roll up my sleeves or wash my hands I am confronted by the images and rerun Zaraa’s story in my mind. I can’t get away from it.” Read more here
Journalist Lorna Irvine wrote in The List, “Every single delicate stroke of the pen’s nib carries weight — each figure inked onto skin represents the fight for survival, a symbol of solidarity, and the music is elegiac yet defiant, a beautiful testament to a struggle rewritten each day. And unlike the ink across the forearm, these struggles can never be erased.” Read more here
Photo by Nada Zgank.
The Old City production of As Far As My Fingertips Take Me is presented with the support of Festival Co-Producers Lynne and Bertram Strieb