Lawrence Abu Hamdan
Lawrence Abu Hamdan was born in 1985 in Amman, Jordan
He lives and works between Dubaï and Beirut
Lawrence Abu Hamdan is an artist and “private ear” whose projects have taken the form of audiovisual installations, performances, graphic works, photography, Islamic sermons, cassette tape compositions, essays, and lectures. His interest with sound and its intersection with politics originate from his background in DIY music.
In 2013 Abu Hamdan’s audio documentary The Freedom of Speech Itself was submitted as evidence at the UK asylum tribunal where the artist himself was called to testify as an expert witness. He continues to make sonic analyses for legal investigations and advocacy – most recently his work was prominently part the No More Forgotten Lives campaign for Defense for Children International. The artist’s forensic audio investigations are conducted as part of his research for Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths College London.
Selected solo exhibitions include The Voice Before the Law, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2019); Earwitness Theatre, Institute of Modern Art, Birsbane (2019), Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis (2019), Witte de With, Rotterdam (2019), Chisenhale Gallery, London (2018) ; Hammer Projects: Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Hammer Museum, LA (2018); Earshot, Portikus, Frankfurt (2016); Taqiyya, Kunsthalle St Gallen (2015); Tape Echo, Beirut in Cairo and Van AbbeMuseum, Eindhoven (2013); The Freedom Of Speech Itself, The Showroom, London (2012), The Whole Truth, Casco, Utrecht (2012).
Additionally his works have been exhibited and performed at institutions and international events such as the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020); the 58th Venice Biennale (2019); Tate Modern, London, UK (2018, 2013); Sharjah Biennale 14 & 13 (2019-2017) ; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2017); Contour Biennale 8, Mechelen, Belgium (2017); MACBA, Barcelona, Spain (2017); Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (2017); the 11th Gwangju Biennale, Korea (2016); the 9th Liverpool Biennial, UK (2016); Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2016); Beirut Art Center, Beirut, Lebanon (2015); and the 10th Shanghai Biennial (2014), among many others.
Lawrence Abu Hamdan is the co-winner of the Turner Prize 2019. He is also the recipient of the 2020 EMAF Award, the 2019 Edvard Munch Art Award, the Baloise Art Prize 2018 and the Abraaj Art Prize 2018. In 2017, he won the short film award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, and in 2016, he received the Nam June Paik Award for new media. More recently, he was awarded the 2022 Future Fields Commission in Time-Based Media by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo.
Green Coconuts and Other Inadmissible Evidence - Exhibition view, Secession, Vienna, 2020
Green Coconuts and Other Inadmissible Evidence - Exhibition view, Secession, Vienna, 2020
Once Removed, 2019 - Video installation - Exhibition view, Nirin, 22nd Sydney Biennale, 2020
Once Removed, 2019 - Digital video, color, sound
Earwitness Inventory, 2018 - Mixed media installation - Exhibition view, Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2019
Earwitness Theatre - Exhibition view, Contemporary Art Museum, St Louis, 2019
Earwitness Theatre - Exhibition view, Contemporary Art Museum, St Louis, 2019
After SFX, 2019 - Live Performance, The Tanks at Tate Modern, London, 2019
Walled Unwalled, 2018 - Video Installation – Exhibition view, Turner Prize, Margate, 2019
Walled Unwalled, 2018 - Single channel video installation, color, sound
Walled Unwalled, 2018 - Video Installation – Exhibition view, 58th Venice Biennale, 2019
This whole time there were no land mines, 2017 - Video installation – Exhibition view, 58th Venice Biennale, 2019
This whole time there were no land mines, 2017 - Video installation – Exhibition view, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, 2019
This whole time there were no land mines, 2017 - 8 channel video installation, color, sound
Saydnaya [the missing 19db], 2017 - Digital print mounted on light box
Saydnaya [the missing 19db], 2017 - Exhibition view, Turner Contemporary, Margate, 2019
Saydnaya [ray traces], 2017 - Digital drawings on overhead projectors
Saydnaya [ray traces], 2017 - Installation view, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2018
Saydnaya [ray traces], 2017 - Digital drawings on overhead projectors
Disputed Utterance, 2019 - Wall installation - Exhibition view, Hamburger Bahnhof, 2019
Disputed Utterance, 2019 - Wall installation - Diorama detail
Disputed Utterance, 2018 - Drawing with oil and charcoal, digital print
[inaudible], 2018 - Exhibition view, mor charpentier, Paris
The Recovered Manifesto of Wissam [inaudible], 2017 - Mixed media installation - Exhibition view, mor charpentier, Paris, 2018
The Recovered Manifesto of Wissam [inaudible], 2017 - Mixed media installation - Detail
The Recovered Manifesto of Wissam [inaudible], 2017 - Exhibition view, mor charpentier, Paris, 201
The Recovered Manifesto of Wissam [inaudible], 2017 - Mixed media installation - Exhibition view, Art Parcours, Basel, 2019
Amir Shakib Arslan Mosque - Site specific intervention, Moukhtara, Lebanon, 2016
Amir Shakib Arslan Mosque - Site specific intervention, Moukhtara, Lebanon, 2016
Earshot, 2016 - Installation with digital video and prints – Exhibition view, MACBA, Barcelona, 2017
Earshot, 2016 - Installation with digital video and prints – Exhibition view, Portikus, Frankfurt, 2017
Earshot, 2016 - Installation with digital video and prints – Exhibition view, Portikus, Frankfurt, 2017
Earshot, 2016 – Installation with digital video and prints - Installation view, Gwangju Biennial, 2016
Spinneys Supermarket, Achrafieh Beirut, August 2017, 2015 - Digital print
A Convention of Tiny Movements, 2015 – Mixed media installation - Exhibition view, British Art Show, Leeds, 2015
Beneath the Surface, 2015 - 7 wooden panels, sound piece – Exhibition view, FRAC Franche Comté, 2019
Beneath the Surface, 2015 - Wooden panel painted with acoustic paint
Contra Diction: Speech Against Itself, 2015 – Video installation - Exhibition view, Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, 2015
Contra Diction: Speech Against Itself, 2015 - Live performance - HKW, Berlin, 2016
Contra Diction :Speech Against Itself, 2015 - Live performance - Corner House, Manchester 2016
Contra Diction: Speech Against Itself, 2015 - Live performance - Corner House, Manchester, 2015
Double Take, 2014 - Video installation - Exhibition view, MAC Val, Paris, 2017
Double Take, 2014 - Video installation - Exhibition view, MuHKA, Antwerp, 2016
A conversation with an Unemployed, 2013 – Installation view, Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, 2014
A Conversation with an Unemployed (6), 2013 - Digital print on lightbox
A Conversation with an Unemployed (1), 2013 - Digital print on lightbox
Tape Echo, 2013 - Mixed media installation – Exhibition view, New Museum Triennial, New York, 2013
An Unspeakable Act, 2012 - Digital print
The Freedom of Speech Itself, 2012 - Mixed media installation – Exhibition view, The Showroom, London, 2012
The Freedom of Speech Itself, 2012 - Mixed media installation – Exhibition view, HKW, Berlin, 2012
Conflicted Phonemes, 2012 - Wall installation, vinyl, digital prints – Installation view, Tate Modern, London, 2013
Marches, 2008 - Relics of a performance, pair of shoes and digital prints