Sfeir-Semler Gallery presents Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s new solo exhibition in the Beirut Karantina space, until August 1.
Abu Hamdan is a researcher, filmmaker, artist and activist or, as he puts it, a ‘Private Ear’. His audio investigations can be found in trials, advocacy campaigns or journalistic reports as well as live performances, films and multimedia installations.
For Someone Chewing at Sfeir-Semler, Abu Hamdan has used the idea of noise as an aggregator of his recent and new works. In the new works from 2025, the artist deals with noise and interference in media equipment, with an installation that uncovers the imperceptible electromagnetic fields that accompany us all the time through our portable electronic devices; as well as the systematic targeting of cameras, livestreams and journalists since the start of the genocide in Gaza and during the invasion of Lebanon by the Israeli army, using the last sometimes distorted frames of the targeted recording equipment to create an installation that shows the persistence of media through forces of erasure.
Abu Hamdan statement that ‘power resides with those who define what constitutes noise’ is as fundamental to his exploration of the urban noise-scape of Cairo in the post 2013 military coup as it is to his most recent work in the Syrian Golan Heights occupied territories – recently witnessing political unrest brought about by the planned installation of wind turbines in proximity to people’s homes. Raising awareness about the effect of such noise, Abu Hamdan has also developed a video game with fellow researchers at Earshot* based on the sound recordings of similar turbines in Gaildorf, Germany and recordings of ambient noise captured in the Golan Heights. The installation mimics the nowadays popular style of streamers, showing a recording of the game commented by the artist.
In the cinema space of the gallery, presented is 45th Parallel, the artist’s award-winning work from 2022. Shot in the Haskell Free Library and Opera House – a unique municipal site that straddles Canada and the US, it questions the im(permeability) of borders and the jurisdictions they fall under. Showcasing installation, film, and sound pieces, the exhibition adds another layer to Abu Hamdan’s ongoing commitment to leverage the pervasive nature of sound in order to resist oppression.
In 2023, Abu Hamdan founded Earshot, the world’s first not-for-profit organization dedicated to the study of audio for human rights and environmental advocacy.
Sfeir-Semler Gallery is located at Sfeir-Semler Karantina, Beirut.
