Zifzafa is an Arabic word describing a wind that shakes and rattles everything in its path. Lawrence Abu Hamdan has created a work which demonstrates the effect that more than 30 planned wind turbines will have upon the inhabitants of the occupied Golan Heights. 

Via a kind of computer game, the public can move through the landscape and hear the sounds made by 250-metre wind turbines. Abu Hamdan also includes a video of saxophonist Amr Mdah, playing from the balcony of one of the area’s small houses. The music blends with the noise of the turbines, children playing, bees buzzing and birds singing. In this way, Abu Hamdan creates an acoustic image of the local environment.

As well as being a powerful installation in itself, the work also addresses important critical questions to do with the green movement and those who suffer in the transition to so-called clean energy. This is especially relevant in connection with the current anti-wind turbine protests here in Norway/Sápmi. Zifzafa at MUNCH will include a Sámi voiceover.

The exhibition is curated by Tominga O’Donnell.  

About Lawrence Abu Hamdan:

Artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan (born 1985, Amman) is based in Dubai and London, where he runs earshot.ngo. He has described himself as a Private Ear, on behalf of people under attack from state authorities and others such as Israeli soldiers in Palestine, the Parisian police or torture in Syrian jails. His work has been presented in the form of forensics reports, lectures, live performances, films, publications and exhibitions around the world. 

Lawrence Abu Hamdan received the Edvard Munch Art Award in 2019, which at the time included being given a solo exhibition at MUNCH. The jury was unanimous in its appreciation of Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s artistic practice, highlighting his commitment to human rights, and the originality and the profound questions his work addresses.  

Photo: Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Zifzafa, 2024, still from virtual reality audio platform. Courtesy of the artist