Blocked Duwar

Next date: Thursday, 26 March 2026 | 07:30 PM to 08:30 PM

Image credit: Gracie Steindl

By Feras Shaheen in collaboration with Jonny Scholes, ‘Blocked Duwar’ is 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.

Feras Shaheen: Director/Lead Artist 

Feras Shaheen is a Palestinian artist, curator and community organiser currently based in Nipaluna. Feras is also the copresident of TPAN (Tasmanian Palestine Advocacy Network). He is curious in letting his conceptual interests lead him across a variety of mediums. Working with choreography, installation work, film, performance, design, and street dance to communicate his ideas, the core of Feras’ practice is to connect and engage audiences. He seeks to bring activism into his art practice, with outcomes that are accessible and community centred. Holding a Bachelor of Design from Western Sydney University (2014), Feras often subverts traditional relationships between mediums to challenge audiences’ perspectives, specifically to disrupt colonial discourses and reduce western reliance on neutrality and apathy. Born to Palestinian parents (Gaza/Al Lid), and moving to Western Sydney at age 11, Feras engages with his practice asa way to reflect and examine how he views the world, addressing local and global issues. 

Jonny Scholes: Lead Artist

Jonny Scholesis a Hobart-based artist and technologist who creates immersive digital experiences and installations that explore contemporary social issues. His work often explores the relationships between screen, story, and gaze. In Blocked Duwar, Jonny plays the role of “streamer,” guiding the audience through the shifting virtual world. His expertise in 3D design, interactive storytelling, and audience-responsive technologies is central to the development of the performance’s digital spine. Jonny’s past work spans experimental performance, installation, painting and digital storytelling, with projects shown across Australia and the UK.  

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

Performances
Thursday 26 March, 7:30pm (invite only)
Friday 27 March, 7:30pm
Saturday 28 March, 1:30pm and 7:30pm

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.

When

Location

Campbelltown Arts Centre, 1 Art Gallery Road, 2560, View Map