Earwitness Theatre is the first solo exhibition in Australia of 2019 Turner Prize finalist Lawrence Abu Hamdan.
Abu Hamdan is a Beirut-based artist and ‘private ear’ whose practice examines the politics of listening through installations acutely attuned to sound.
Earwitness Theatre attempts to capture the psychological, bodily, and spatial world of the earwitness—where sounds are remembered as images, where objects have unexpected echoes, and where silence becomes an entire language.
Partner:
Lawrence Abu Hamdan: Earwitness Theatre is commissioned and produced by Chisenhale Gallery, London, in partnership with the IMA; Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam; and Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Missouri.
Lawrence Abu Hamdan, 'Earwitness Theatre'. Installation view: Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, May 17–August 18, 2019. Photo: Dusty Kessler.
The Institute of Modern Art acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land upon which the IMA now stands, the Jagera, Yuggera, Yugarapul, and Turrbal people. We offer our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the first artists of this country. In the spirit of allyship, the IMA will continue to work with First Nations people to celebrate, support, and present their immense past, present, and future contribution to artistic practice and cultural expression.