The Voice Before the Law, the title of the exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart - Berlin, is ambiguous. The voice precedes the law; an individual human life takes precedence over abstract law; the voice stands trial; the voice is accused - or accuses, demanding justice. In Abu Hamdan's works, traces of governmental or corporate violence and mechanisms of surveillance and propaganda reveal themselves in the scope of auditory perception. The artist describes himself as a "private ear."
Lawrence Abu Hamdan is the winner of the Baloise Art Prize 2018. As part of this annual prize awarded in cooperation with two international art museums, the Baloise Group purchased his work This whole time there were no landmines (2017) for the Nationalgalerie and facilitated the exhibition and publication. The exhibition centers on this video and audio installation, a haunting exploration of physical and emotional boundaries.
Lawrence Abu Hamdan:
The Voice Before the Law
26 October 2019 - 9 February 2020
Curator: Ina Dinter