Yassine Khaled, Monitor Man performance, 2016-2018. Photo: Joana Magalhães

Visual artist Yassine Khaled explores the nature of virtual communication through public performances that engages the audience into transnational dialogue, while awakening urgent social issues on immigration and the concept of the Other. Khaled will arrive for a three month residency at the FCINY from February to April, 2020.

Yassine Khaled started his artistic career with painting. During his visual art studies in Morocco, he grew more interested to question what art is and the way in which our cultural identities are shaped. The curiosity towards other cultures and countries led him to continue his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki.

Khaled is planning to work on two projects during his residency at the FCINY: a new version of his previous project Monitor Man (2016-2018) and a new project titled Face to Face. Both of these projects discuss important issues of our time - identity politics, immigration and the constraints and possibilities of modern technology and communication.

The project titled Monitor Man is an ongoing project that started back in 2016 during Khaled’s first year in Finland. The project is centered around creating the circumstances for virtual and transnational communication in the public space. In the performance, Khaled wears a helmet that is attached to an iPad, which enables a connection to a person outside of the Western world.

Yassine Khaled, Monitor Man performance, 2016-2018. Photo: Tani Simberg

At the core of the performance lies an interest in transgressing national and physical borders, while enabling new interactions and cross-cultural meeting points. The participants of the performance will get an opportunity to meet someone who is physically far away from them, or restricted in their freedom of movement. Monitor Man draws inspiration and urgency from the current refugee crisis and how it is unfolding in relation to social media and the presence of technology in our daily lives.

This Spring will be the first time that Khaled will perform Monitor Man in New York and the United States. He is planning to execute the performance on several occasions during his residency period. The performance dates will be announced on FCINY social media.

In Monitor Man, Yassine Khaled creates an embodiment of virtual communication in public space. The artist wears a helmet affixed with an iPad, which offers a real-time connection to a person outside of Europe and Western world. Through the use of technology and his own body, Khaled uses the performance to transgress actual, national borders which separate people. The performance is an opportunity for people to meet with someone who is physically far away and restricted in their freedom of movement. Monitor Man was inspired by the current refugee crisis and how it is unfolding in relation to the internet, social media, and the om- nipresence of technology. The project began on the streets of Helsinki, but is ongoing, as the artist presents the work in different locations around the Western world. Monitor Man -performance and the video have been presented at the following festivals: SALTS (2017-2018), Birsfelden, Switzerland, Research Pavilion (2017), related to 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, Chart Art Fair (2017), Copenhagen, Denmark, curated by Helga Christof- fersen, Supermarket Art Fair (2017) Stockholm, Sweden, Arabia Street Art Festival (2017), Hel- sinki and Baltic Circle, International Theatre Festival (2016), Helsinki, Finland. WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Yassine Khaled PARTICIPANTS OF THE PERFORMANCE ("CONNECTORS"): Reda Khaled Isadora Pamplona Isa "Baggysnow" Yassine Talha Elina Lajunen Salam Alajmi CAMERA: Elina Oikari Yassine Khaled Hami Bahadori Gregoire Rousseau Brian Leong EDITING: Elina Oikari Yassine Khaled SOUND DESIGN: Jyri Pirinen

2020 FEB - APRIL

Artist Yassine Khaled explores the means of our communication