CHRA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Core Team
- Assistant Curator at CHRA and Studio Manager
- Assistant Curator, Center for Human Rights & the Arts Studio Manager, Tania El Khoury 's Studio
Adam HajYahia is Assistant Curator at CHRA and Studio Manager as part of the Mellon Foundation Award to Bard College to support the work of Tania El Khoury. Adam is a researcher, writer, and curator from Palestine. His research and writing focus on images and performativity in the revolutionary context of Palestine and the region, psychoanalysis and labor, as well as the negative economic speculation within contemporary art. His curatorial and pedagogical work has been presented in various galleries, museums and educational institutions, such as The Mosaic Rooms, The James Gallery at the CUNY Graduate Center, Mophradat, The Berlin Biennale 12, MoMA PS1, the Harvard Law School, and Wolfson College, and University of Oxford. Adam is a graduate of the MA in Human Rights & the Arts at CHRA.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Core Team
- Coordinator for the
- Coordinator, MA in Human Rights & the Arts
Adrienne Truscott is Coordinator for the M.A. program. She is a live artist whose work crosses forms and methodologies from dance, theater, comedy, club acts, and performance art.
Her work has toured internationally for the last 20 years and has been honored by the Bessies, Total Theater Awards, the Doris Duke Foundation, and Foundation for Contemporary Art. Her writing has appeared in several anthologies-Women of Letters, Doing It, Openings (Sophiensaele), and The Guardian among others.
As a guest curator, she has worked with Movement Research and Gibney Center for Dance. She frequently acts as a guest director and mentor for emerging artists, most recently with the Dublin Fringe Festival and Shadow Casters in Croatia. Truscott has taught at Wesleyan University, Barnard College, Bard College, Princeton University, New York University, and Gibney Center for Dance.
Ali Hussein Al-Adawy is a critic, curator, and researcher. He joins the program from Alexandria, Egypt. Ali's research interests center around representations of labor in film and art, the shifting […]
Anas Alkhatib is an architect, dancer, and spatial researcher. He joins the program from Palestine. Anas's practice focuses on spatial violence documentation, architectural visualization, and cartography. He is the founder of Architect In Camps" (Me'mar) collective, a multidisciplinary architectural studio.
Anastasia Dzutstsati is a journalist, filmmaker, and human rights activist. Born in Moscow, Russia, they join the program by way of New York City. Anastasia's research interests focus on the
Argyro Nicolaou is a writer and filmmaker based in New York. Her work deals with the representation of history, displacement, and intergenerational memory in post-conflict, postcolonial societies, like her home […]
Arina Pshenichnaya is a researcher, art historian, and learning experience designer for adult online education. She joins the program most recently from Saint Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, Russia. Arina's research focuses on artistic representation of repressive practices and their legacies in post-Soviet countries.
Aya Rebai is an architect, scenographer, and a cultural manager. She joins the program from Tunisia. Having worked on a variety of artistic and educational projects in Tunisia, Aya's own research and practice focus on food politics and cooking as an artistic tool.
Carol Montealegre is an artist working in performance, installation, and video. She joins the program from Bogota, Colombia. Carol's research interests include experimental film and performance art as mediums for human emancipation. She is the Artistic Director at Liminal Art Collective.
Ciko Sidzumo has yet to adopt a discipline. She joins the program from Johannesburg, South Africa. Ciko's research interests include period poverty, gender-based violence, and movements that work toward the
Elie Arden is a sound designer, installation maker, and performer. She joins the program from the United Kingdom by way of London. Elie's research interests focus on the relationship between sound and diasporic memory, artificial intelligence, and ecology.
Dancer, choreographer, director, storyteller, Faustin Linyekula lives in Kisangani, DRC. He is the founder of the Studios Kabako (2001), a space dedicated to dance, visual theatre, music and film, providing
Garrett Sager (a.k.a. Melissabeth) is a multidisciplinary artist with roots in theater and cabaret. He joins the program from the Boston area by way of the Hudson Valley. Garrett's research interests include pop culture and identity, queer time, and the creation of new genders via performance.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Core Team
- Senior Curator, Center for Human Rights & the Arts Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Fisher Center at Bard
Gideon Lester is Senior Curator at the Center for Human Rights & the Arts and Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Fisher Center at Bard. A festival director, creative producer, and dramaturg, he has collaborated with and commissioned artists across disciplines, including Romeo Castellucci, Justin Vivian Bond, Brice Marden, Sarah Michelson, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Claudia Rankine, Kaija Saariaho, Peter Sellars, and Anna Deavere Smith.
His recent projects include Where No Wall Remains, an international festival on borders (co-curated with Tania El Khoury); Daniel Fish's Oklahoma! (Tony award); Pam Tanowitz's Four Quartets; Ronald K. Brown and Meshell Ndegeocello's Grace and Mercy; and Ashley Tata's Mad Forest. He was previously a curator of Crossing the Line Festival (New York City) and Acting Artistic Director at the American Repertory Theatre.
Gideon's interests include altered models of festival curation, collaboration, and arts funding, creating exceptional conditions for artistic creation across disciplines.
Gideon holds a BA in English Language and Literature from Oxford University, and a diploma in dramaturgy from Harvard's Institute for Advanced Theater Training, where he was a Fulbright and Frank Knox scholar. He was director of Bard's undergraduate Theater & Performance Program from 2012-2020, and previously held faculty positions at Columbia and Harvard. He teaches courses on collaboration, dramaturgy, theater and performance studies, and creative producing.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Core Team
- Grace Operations Manager
- Operations Manager, Center for Human Rights & the Arts
Grace Operations Manager at CHRA. She is a writer and photographer whose work focuses on regenerative agriculture and place-based memory. She has freelanced on television and film productions in NYC, and has worked on several small-scale vegetable farms, including Good Chi Farm and Tributary Farm in Ulster County. Her poetry and photography have been featured in Patchwork Zine (2023), Pink Moth (2023), and Outside In Literary & Travel Magazine (2010). She holds a B.A. in literature and film from Syracuse University.
Job Titles:
- Artist - in - Residence
- Artist, Graphic Designer, Illustrator
Haitham Haddad is a visual artist, graphic designer, illustrator and tattoo artist from Haifa, Palestine. He is the founder and creative director of the multidisciplinary Studio Mnjnk ستوديو منجنيق. His practice channels futuristic queer aesthetics and is concerned with the politics of graphic art and printmaking.
Hattie Wilder Karlstrom is a researcher and an activist. She joins the program from Amherst, Massachusetts by way of Annandale-on-Hudson. Hattie's research interests center on borders and the people they affect. Hattie was a 2020 participant in the Border Pedagogy Working Group and the recipient of a Watson Fellowship.
Immanuel Williams is an interdisciplinary artist working across the mediums of painting, printmaking, performance, sculpture, drawing, and installation. They join the program from Albany, New York. Immanuel's research interests include […]
Iris Luo tells stories through photography, illustration, and writing, and is trained in theater producing and arts administration. She joins the program from Shanghai, China. Iris's research interests center on
Isabella Indolfi is an independent curator living between New York City and Maranola (Italy), and working between Western Europe, Russia, Armenia, and the United States of America. Her curatorial research
Jina Rishmawi is a peace activist and innovator. She joins the program from Palestine, Beit Sahour-the Shepherds Fields-in particular. Jina's research interests include urban planning, nonviolent resistance, and peacebuilding.
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Resident
- Independent Curator and Researcher
Juliana Steiner is an independent curator and researcher from Bogotá interested in interdisciplinary practices in contemporary art that incorporate social sciences, pedagogy, architecture and long-term projects with communities. Her research focuses on more-than-human species, environmental justice and the transformations of landscapes. She curated the Network Project in Colombia, as part of the Common Ground Biennial at Bard College, resulting in a program called, "Ecotone: Chagras, Payasos and Camellones." She is the co-founder and artistic director of La Reserva Guatoc, a multidisciplinary residency in Baricharathat seeks to create critical thinking through experimental forms in a cross-territorial dialogue between Latin America and the Caribbean. She also co-founded Espacio Odeón, a contemporary arts center housed in an abandoned landmark movie theater in Bogotá's city center. She holds a BFA in Visual Arts and a BA in Business Management from Universidad de Los Andes and an MA in Art Administration from New York University. Juliana has taught as an adjunct professor at the Universidad de Los Andes School of Architecture.
Lara Fresko Madra holds a PhD in Art History from Cornell University. She comes from an interdisciplinary background with an MA in Comparative Literature from Istanbul Bilgi University and a
Leil Zahra Mortada is a filmmaker, political organizer, curator, and researcher. Born and raised in South Lebanon, they join the program by way of Berlin, Germany. Leil's research interests include colonialism, nationalism, migration, transfeminism, and abolition.
Luka Gotsiridze is a researcher, documentarian, and digital content creator. He joins the program from Georgia, by way of Budapest, Hungary and Vienna, Austria. His research interests include religion and
Job Titles:
- Graphic Designer
- Illustrator
Majd Al-Rafie is a graphic designer, illustrator, and activist. She joins the program from Amman, Jordan. Majd's research interests include Arab queer politics, Palestinian liberation, and art in activism.
Margarita Kuchma is a video and music artist. She joins the program from St. Petersburg, Russia. Margarita's research interests include sound and video in advocacy, criminal justice reform, and youth […]
Mariia Pankova is a multimedia artist and documentary filmmaker. She joins the program from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Maria's research interests center around regional variations of artistic identities and practices as well as art for social change. View her The Sounds of A City here, short documentary that features an elderly music school teacher who has been playing for tips on the streets of Bishkek, for twenty years.
Mauro Tosarelli is a designer and researcher. He joins the program from Italy, by way of Dublin, Ireland. Mauro's research interests center around detainees and former prisoners as well as
Job Titles:
- Writer
- Writer and Photographer
Nabil Salih is a writer and photographer. He joins the program from Baghdad, Iraq by way of Washington DC. Nabil's research interests include Iraqi politics and psychogeography. His work has appeared in Al Jazeera English, Jadaliyya, Middle East Eye and LeftEast and has been translated into French, Italian, and Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Writer and Researcher from Amman
Nadine Fattaleh is a writer and researcher from Amman, Jordan. Her work focuses on spatial practices through cartography and film. She received a B.A. in Middle East, South Asian and
Nestor Rotsen is a fashion and multidisciplinary artist. He joins the program from Moscow, Russia. The main area of interest for Nestor's work is based on the social and political
Nour Annan is a writer, photographer, and inter-disciplinary artist. She joins the program from Lebanon. Nour's research interests include collective cultural memory and contemporary revolutionary politics. She is a former
Oscar Humberto Pedraza Vargas is a historian and anthropologist with a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from CUNY Graduate Center and a BA in Anthropology and an MA in Social Anthropology […]
Pavel Zalevskii is a researcher and an activist. He joins the program from the Kyrgyz Republic. Pavel's research interests center on queer politics and their histories in Central Asia.
Job Titles:
- Artist
- Programming Producer, Center for Human Rights & the Arts
Polina is an artist, educator, and community organizer whose work focuses on regenerative ecology, liberatory pedagogy, and transformative justice. Born in Russia and raised in the Bronx, she worked nationally and internationally as a filmmaker, humanitarian aid worker, and teacher. Before moving back to New York, Polina founded and ran an experimental democratic school in Columbia, Missouri and created NEIGHBORS, a community art space in a storefront in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was a member of the Dirt Palace, a feminist art collective in Providence, Rhode Island.
Polina has also helped start community gardens, taught art and film at Brown University, University of Wisconsin, and Stephens College, and was the Education and Community Engagement Director at the True/False Film Fest, an international documentary festival. She currently lives with her family and kin in the village of Red Hook where she tends a medicinal herb garden and community apothecary.
Pyae Phyo Aung is a journalist, researcher, and digital content creator. He joins the program from Myanmar. His research interests include community-based ethnography, storytelling, authoritarian regimes, and digital rights.
Raneem Ayyad is a multidisciplinary researcher, architect, and visual artist. She joins the program from Palestine. Her research focuses on the intersections between the built environment and heritage, with an interest in colonial relations and gender dynamics in Palestine and post-colonial contexts. Raneem is a co-director for the Architect In Camps (Me'mar) collective.
Sabine El Chamaa is a filmmaker who holds a PhD in Communications, Media, and Cultural Studies from Goldsmiths, University of London and an MFA, Cinematic Arts in Film Production from University of Southern California. From Lebanon, Sabine has worked as an editor on independent film projects in Europe and the United States before moving back to Beirut. Her diverse projects include fiction and non-fiction films, multidisciplinary installations, photography and (more recently) podcasts. Sabine's current interests center on the ongoing reconstruction of collective and personal memory in relation to one's embodied experiences and personal archives such as photos, diaries, or dream recollections.
Job Titles:
- Creative Technologist and Researcher
Sarah Al Yahya is a creative technologist and researcher. She joins the program from Amman, Jordan. Sarah's research interests center on the decolonial and other sociopolitical potential of new media art, Palestine, and the SWANA region. Most recently, her interactive installation YOU ARE NOT HERE showed at the 2023 Ars Electronica Festival in Linz.
Sariyah Bonnita Jaser Abuzant is a producer and project manager. She joins the program from Palestine by way of Maryland, United States. Sariyah's research interests focus on conflict resolution in […]
Job Titles:
- Member of the Core Team
- Director of the Center for Human Rights
- Director, Center for Human Rights & the Arts
Tania El Khoury is the director of the Center for Human Rights & the Arts as well as a Distinguished Artist in Residence in the Theater and Performance Program at Bard College.
She is a live artist whose interactive installations and performances reflect on the production of collective memory and the cultivation of solidarity.
Since 2017, Tania has cocurated two editions of the Fisher Center LAB Biennial, both featuring commissions of her own artistic work.
Her work has been translated into multiple languages and shown globally in spaces ranging from national museums to fishing boats. She is the recipient of the Herb Alpert Award, the Bessie Outstanding Production Award, Soros Art Fellowship, International Live Art Prize, Total Theatre Innovation Award, and Arches Brick Award. She is cofounder of Dictaphone Group, an urban research and live art collective in Lebanon.
Tania holds a PhD in Performance Studies from Royal Holloway, University of London. Her publications include The Search for Power and Gardens Speak (Tadween Publishing), "Camp Pause: Stories from Rashidieh Camp and the Sea" (Jadaliyya), "Performing the Arab" (Kohl: A Journal for Body and Gender Research), "The Scenography of The Revolution," "Two Live Artists in the Theatre," and "Swimming in Sewage, Political Performances in the Mediterranean" (all in Performance Research), and "We Are All Witnesses: The Arab Spring in Photos and Electronic Wars" as well as "Spaces and Bodies in Arab Revolutionary Art" (both in Journal of Palestine Studies).
Tania teaches performance, live art and spatial justice, audience interactivity, and the intersection of art and activism.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Core Team
- Director, Human Rights Project, Bard Co - Founder, Center for Human Rights & the Arts
- Professor of Comparative Literature
Thomas Keenan is the director of the Human Rights Project and Professor of Comparative Literature at Bard College.
He is the author of Fables of Responsibility (1997); and, with Eyal Weizman, Mengele's Skull (2012). He is co-editor, with Wendy Chun, of New Media, Old Media (2006, 2nd ed. 2015).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Core Team
- Director of the MA Program
- Director of the MA Program in Human Rights
- Director, MA in Human Rights & the Arts
Ziad Abu-Rish is the director of the MA Program in Human Rights & the Arts, and Associate Professor of Human Rights and Middle Eastern Studies at Bard College. His research centers around state formation, economic development, and popular mobilizations, particularly in Lebanon and Jordan.
Ziad holds a PhD in History from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He is currently completing a book project, "The State of Lebanon: Popular Politics and Institution Building in the Wake of Independence." He serves as co-editor of Arab Studies Journal and Jadaliyya e-zine, and co-director of the Lebanese Dissertation Summer Institute and Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative. Ziad is co-editor of The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order? (2012), Critical Voices: A Collection of Interviews from and on the Middle East (2015), and What Is Political Economy?(2016). He is the author of articles appearing in Middle East Report and Review of Middle East Studies and chapters in edited volumes on the political economy of the Middle East, the Arab uprisings, and teaching Middle East history. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA).