André Malraux said: ‘Art, is the shortest path from one human being to another human being.’ I depicted the words of the French Novelist in Arabic on an artwork that I divided into 49 pieces. Each piece was sent to a person, all around the world: Nigeria, USA, Portugal, Italy, China, Canada, UAE, Qatar, France, UK, Netherlands, Pakistan, Tunisia, Rwanda, Egypt, and Romania

Then at 1PM EST time, on April 26 2020, everyone logged in with their respective virtual backgrounds. As the conductor, I just had to synchronize the participants, shape the final picture, allowing people to enter the Zoom call according to their position on the artwork. Each person was a single instrument playing a solo. Person by person, I could witness the artwork taking shape. I had to trust everyone to do his or her part so we could create the artwork together. Their part was to be on time, have a good internet connection and a laptop. It was amazing to see each person entering the room and to their surprise, being greeted by people from all over the world whether they knew them or not. There was an undeniable comradery that was genuinely endearing.   

The best part of it was not the artwork, it was the ambiance, the energy, and the love everyone shared during the call. This wouldn’t have been possible without the talented Aloe Blacc who performed throughout the call, and the performance of the amazing Dutch dancers Norah, Yarah, and Rosa. For over an hour we were all at the same level, in unison, sharing the same human condition. I didn’t realize what was happening until the call was over and the participants left one by one just as I had added them.