index: lawrence abu hamadann + lendl barcelos

Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Lendl Barcelos are two artists whose work explores, among other topics, the relationship between sound and its effects on the body. This interrogation can be witnessed in Abu Hamdan’s piece Air Pressure, which is presented at INDEX this year. The performance questions the use of sound as an instrument of silencing in times of war by examining 15 years of violation of the Lebanese airspace by the Israeli military forces, creating an everyday soundscape of great tension.
Both Abu Hamdan and Barcelos work in the field of what might be called the politics of listening and sonic culture, which will be the starting point for their conversation.

lawrence abu hamdan
Lawrence Abu Hamdan calls himself a Private Ear, listening to, with and on behalf of people affected by corporate, state, and environmental violence. He is based in Beirut, Lebanon.
His work reflects on the political and cultural context of sound and listening, and is presented in the form of forensic reports, lectures and live performances, films, publications, and exhibitions.
Abu Hamdan’s audio investigations have been used as evidence in asylum cases and as part of international NGO advocacy campaigns. His work is in the collections of the Reina Sofia (Madrid, Spain), MoMA (New York, USA), Guggenheim (New York, USA), Centre Pompidou (Paris, France) and Tate Modern (London, UK) and was exhibited at the 2019 Venice Biennale (Italy). His film Rubber Coated Steel (2017) was awarded at the Rotterdam International Film festival (Netherlands). In 2019, he shared the Turner Prize with Helen Cammock, Oscar Murillo and Tai Shani, for their work on contemporary social and political issues.

lendl barcelos
Lendl Barcelos divides time between writing, teaching, DJ sets and working as an audio technician for performances. Lendl was part of the Infinite Ear project, exhibitions based on Deafness as a sonic experience. Hen* has participated in both Art & Architecture Venice Biennales (Italy) and has shown work at the Tremor Festival (São Miguel, Azores), Garage (Moscow, Russia) and Tate Britain (London, UK), among others.

*’Hen’ is the Swedish gender-neutral pronoun in contrast to ‘hon’ (she) and ‘han’ (he).

note conversation in english

talk included in the index 2024 – art and technology biennial programme

the index art and technology biennial is part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the april revolution

The Conferences Programme of Biennial INDEX is supported by the European Digital Deal project.