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About the Artist

Performance Artist


Theatre Maker


Performance Researcher


Artivist

I am a performance artist from Palestine whose practice weaves together movement, voice, objects, video, and sound to create live and multidisciplinary performance work across theatre, public space, installations, and site-specific contexts. Through themes of gender, politics, resistance, societal dynamics, and collective imagination, I tell stories often misrepresented, challenging prevailing perceptions, embracing risk-taking, and provoking change within audiences.

 

I co-directed The Alternativity (2017) with Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle and Banksy, broadcast as a BBC2 documentary. I created Stone on Road (2014, Qalandia International Biennale), a performance happening in the streets of Ramallah. I premiered Another Lover's Discourse ليه خلّتني أحبك at the Belfast International Arts Festival, commissioned as part of their 2022 60th-anniversary celebration, and nominated as Show of the Week at VAULT Festival 2023. The work toured six major UK venues in 2023.

 

I am currently leading my practice research project at the University of Exeter, driven by the question of how Palestinian land might be performed in moments of urgency and crisis. I am deeply invested in how performance can deepen our understanding of land injustices and bridge activism with its transformative potential. Despite dispossession, displacement, and systematic violations of the land, many Palestinians carry it in their memories, their relationship to their bodies, and their daily practices — rendering performance a significant and essential site for the representation of that Palestinian land.

 

I hold an MA in Performance Making from Goldsmiths and have taught at Palestinian universities. I have collaborated with the A.M. Qattan Foundation, the British Council, and numerous international institutions. I have been recognised through fellowships with Georgetown University's Global Lab for Performance and Politics and IETM as a Global Connector (2024).

WHAT PEOPLE SAY

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Isaac theatrical work is entertaining, humorous and takes audiences on a journey. Her work raises awareness, encourages debate, and tackles issues of social injustice.

Aser Elsaqqa,

Artistic Director

AWAN Festival

Riham is a talented artist. She deserves all the credit for the work we did together: without her Banksy's Alternativity wouldn't have happened

Danny Boyle

Co- Director

The Alternativity

Ms. Isaac’s multi-media performance is among the most creative & innovative projects I have encountered in my research of  Palestinian artists.

Elisabeth Friedman,

Professor, Phd

ILLinois State University

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