Nomination
earshot.ngo/investigations/zifzafa
A digital tool, a performance, and a multichannel video installation, Zifzafa advocates for the sonic self-determination of the people of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights (Jawlan). Developed in collaboration with Al Marsad, it is a video game simulation of the noise pollution caused by wind turbines that seeks to safeguard the auditory life of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights against further acts of occupation and dispossession, and to highlight the fundamental role of sound in the formation of a community.
Photo: Lawrence Abu Hamdan (LB)
Photo: Lawrence Abu Hamdan (LB)
Photo: courtesy of Earshot Investigations Ltd.
Photo: courtesy of Barakat Contemporary. Photography by Jeon Byung Cheol
Photo: courtesy of Barakat Contemporary. Photography by Jeon Byung Cheol
Photo: Lawrence Abu Hamdan (LB)
In 1967, Israel seized and occupied 95% of the Jawlan, displacing 131,000 people across 344 villages. Those who remained have since endured military occupation. In summer 2023, in response to an Israeli government project to build 31 wind turbines—the world’s largest (256 m)—on the last piece of land allocated to them, Jawlanis protested on a scale not seen in 40 years. Depending on wind speed, each turbine generates between 70dB-90dB of noise—equivalent to a busy highway. The project’s acoustic footprint will be 16 km², a quarter of the Jawlanis’ allocated area.
Zifzafa demonstrates the force of this sonic annexation, and features over 40 field recordings by Jawlani artists, to serve as an archive of a sonic life under threat.
Credits
A project by Earshot (Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Fabio Cervi, Caline Matar, Adnan Naqvi)
Sound recording: Adam Laschinger (Gaildorf, Germany); Busher Kanj Abu Saleh (Jawlan)
Megaphone voices: Haneen Ayoub, Shada Safadi, Youssef Safadi
Voices recorded at 67 Studio by Busher Kanj Abu Saleh
Sound mix & master: Enyang Urbiks
Special thanks to Shada Safadi and Wael Tarabieh
With support from: Barakat Contemporary, Munch Museum Oslo, Alserkal Arts Foundation, Festival d’Automne à Paris, CENTQUATRE-PARIS, and L’Art Rue as part of Dream City 2025
Biography
Lawrence Abu Hamdan (LB) has over a decade of experience investigating audio and a doctorate from the University of London on the role of sound in legal investigations. In 2023 he founded Earshot the world’s first not-for-profit organization dedicated to the study of audio for human rights and environmental advocacy. His work has been presented in the form of forensic reports, lectures, and live performances, films, publications, and exhibitions all over the world. Abu Hamdan projects are part of collections at Reina Sofia, MoMA, Guggenheim, Hamburger Bahnhof, Van Abbe Museum, Centre Pompidou, and Tate Modern.