HELSINKI.- Unless he defeats the travel ban put on him by the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet/Shabak) and arrives in time, Khaled Jarrar will be present via videolink at “Meet the Artists of To the Square 2” on August 14.

Invited to Helsinki to open a large-scale new artwork and lead 50 volunteers in a performative action through the streets of Helsinki, the Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar is stranded in Ramallah. The Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet/Shabak) has banned him from leaving Israel. His project is scheduled to open “no matter what”, say the curators of the project Ivor Stodolsky and Marita Muukkonen of Perpetuum Mobile(PM) whom Jarrar informed during the weekend.

Jarrar’s work will form part of PM’S TO THE SQUARE 2 project, commissioned by Checkpoint Helsinki and part of Helsinki Festival, starting on 18 August and culminating on the 29 August with a grand opening on Helsinki’s square and a concert of the singer of the Egyptian Revolution, Ramy Essam.

Khaled Jarrar was previously in Helsinki for Perpetuum Labs II, which Perpetuum Mobile organised in December 2013 with Kallio Kunsthalle. In March 2014, he was played a prominent role in the first instance of PM’s Checkpoint Helsinki-commissioned project, also part of the Re-Aligned Project series, called BACK TO THE SQUARE 1.

Earlier this summer, Jarrar was turned back at the border on the way to his exhibition opening in the New Museum in New York. After a long wait on Allenby Bridge, he was informed that he would not obtain permission to leave before the 1st August. Now, they say, the ban has been extended until 1st September. If nothing is done, fears Jarrar, it will soon be the 1st January..

Khaled Jarrar is working with the leading Israeli human rights lawyer Lea Tsmeal regarding his situation. The curators are approaching various authorities and colleagues internationally.