Turner Prize winner uses acoustic forensics to expose human rights abuses
Lawrence Abu Hamdan, a Turner Prize-winning artist, leads the NGO Earshot, which employs acoustic analysis to document human rights abuses. His investigations have examined gunfire in Gaza and an alleged sonic weapon in Belgrade. He describes his artistic and investigative practices as intertwined.
Abu Hamdan's investigative practice grew from a 2016 collaboration with Forensic Architecture for Amnesty International, documenting conditions inside Syria's Sednaya prison through survivor testimony. Inmates lived in total darkness under enforced silence, their acute hearing of everyday sounds—keys, bread, even lice—becoming crucial evidence for reconstructing the prison's layout years before the Assad regime fell.
Earshot, founded in 2023, operates from a bright, tidy open-plan office in south London, staffed largely by architecture graduates. The team's work spans urgent case reports and slower artistic reflections, a duality Abu Hamdan says keeps their listening sharp. His Turner Prize win came in 2019, and his Venice Biennale work remains among the most striking this year.
This blending of forensic audio analysis with contemporary art could reshape how human rights abuses are documented and communicated to the public. By translating technical acoustic evidence into sensory, aesthetic experiences, Abu Hamdan's approach may make complex investigations more accessible, potentially influencing how NGOs, journalists, and courts weigh sound-based testimony. It also raises questions about the reliability and limits of acoustic evidence, which could affect legal standards and public trust in such methods.