Lawrence Abu Hamdan. Photo by Miro Kuzmanovic. Courtesy of the artist.
Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
Video still from Once Removed, 2019, by Lawrence Abu Hamdan. Commissioned by Sharjah Biennial 14. Courtesy of the artist.
Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
Performance still from Natq: a live audiovisual essay, 2019, by Lawrence Abu Hamdan. Courtesy of the artist.
Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
03
January
2020
|
09:00 AM
America/New_York

The Philadelphia Museum of Art and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Award Lawrence Abu Hamdan the Future Fields Commission in Time-Based Media

The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo announced today that Lawrence Abu Hamdan has been awarded the 2022 Future Fields Commission in Time-Based Media. This is the third in an ongoing series of commissions offered jointly by the two institutions to support the creation, production, and acquisition of new work by international artists working in the expanding fields of video, film, performance, and sound. Abu Hamdan has received many accolades and a number of commissions throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. This project, in particular, stands as a singular and significant opportunity that will enable the artist to further develop, refine, and expand his growing practice and the subjects with which he works.

Lawrence Abu Hamdan (Lebanese/British, born in Amman 1985) lives and works in Beirut. His work is distinguished by the ways in which he experiments with voice and sound to create complex political narratives. In these he employs surveillance technologies and archival materials to explore the juridical implications of listening and the role of sound as a tool to silence, suppress, and resist. Combining science, journalism, a commitment to social justice, and art, Abu Hamdan’s aural investigations have served as evidence at the UK Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and advocacy for organizations such as Amnesty International. His research has also contributed to the work of the multidisciplinary research group Forensic Architecture.

For the Future Fields Commission, Abu Hamdan has proposed an installation, tentatively titled How to Hear Impossible Speech: Lessons from the Division of Perceptual Studies, which aims to expand our understanding of testimony and witness through narratives of reincarnation—a belief in the transmigration of the soul from one life to the next. Though distinct from the artist’s more widely known acoustic investigations, this commission will maintain a focus on ideas of resonance as Abu Hamdan charts the transmigration of speech, not through walls, but across time, bodies, and complex histories of unrest, subjugation, and colonization.

Abu Hamdan is developing the commission in close consultation with Amanda Sroka, the Museum’s Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, as well as Irene Calderoni, Curator at the Fondazione. The work will premiere at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in spring 2022 and the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin during the following winter. It will be jointly acquired by the two institutions.

Timothy Rub, The George D. Widener Director and CEO, Philadelphia Museum of Art, stated: “Lawrence Abu Hamdan has emerged as a powerful voice in contemporary art, and in this regard, he is the perfect choice for our Future Fields Commission. We look forward to the realization of his provocative project proposal, and are delighted both to partner once again with the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, and to share the outcome of our collaborations with visitors.”

Carlos Basualdo, The Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, said, “Future Fields is an extraordinary tool to explore contemporary art exactly where it is most vital, in the works of a new generation of artists, across the globe, developing new forms of visual production. We are delighted that Lawrence Abu Hamdan has accepted to be part of the already notable roster of artists that have received the commission.”

Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, President of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, said: “We strongly believe that institutions today have a responsibility to support and foster art practices that are imaginative, daring, and committed, and Future Fields offers us a significant international platform to fulfil this aim. Lawrence Abu Hamdan is one of the most significant and innovative figures of his generation and we look forward to working with him on this ambitious project."

The commission followed a nomination process in which an invited group of leading curators, writers, and critics from around the world were asked to submit artists’ names for consideration by the curatorial teams at the Museum and the Fondazione. The selection of Lawrence Abu Hamdan resulted from submissions provided by Ruth Estevez, Senior Curator-at-Large of Rose Art Museum in Waltham, Massachusetts and Curator 34th Sao Paolo Biennale; Myriam Ben Salah, curator, writer and Editor-at-Large of Kaleidoscope Magazine; Polly Staple, Director of Collection, British Art, Tate, London; and Zasha Colah, an Indian curator and lecturer at NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) Milan as well as co-founder of black rice in Tuensang and Clark House Initiative in Mumbai.

Commenting on his selection for the commission, the artist said: “I am really looking forward to working on this commission with such supportive institutions, such impressive exhibition spaces, and such smart and precise curators, Amanda Sroka and Irene Calderoni. I am grateful to all those who have worked to make this possible and who continue to support the production of time-based media. I hope I can live up to the great work of previous recipients, Martine Syms and Rachel Rose.”

The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo together established The Future Fields Commission in Time-Based Media in 2016, awarding each recipient $125,000 for the production of the newly commissioned work. Its first recipient was Rachel Rose, whose inaugural project, Rachel Rose: Wil-o-Wisp, was presented at the two institutions in 2018–19, accompanied by an illustrated catalogue. Martine Syms was the second recipient, and her exhibition will open at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo next spring before traveling to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in fall 2020.

About Lawrence Abu Hamdan

Abu Hamdan has gained significant international recognition in recent years and was recently one of four winners awarded the 2019 Turner Prize. He is also the recipient of the 2019 Edvard Munch Art Award. In 2017 he won the short film award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, and in 2016 he received the Nam June Paik Award for new media. Prominent solo presentations include the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2019); Witte De With, Rotterdam (2019); Chisenhale Gallery, London (2018); the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2018); Portikus Frankfurt (2016); and Kunsthalle St. Gallen (2015). His work was also featured in the 58th Venice Biennale and Sharjah Biennial (both 2019) and has entered the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Van AbbeMuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Tate Modern, London.

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is Philadelphia’s art museum. A place that welcomes everyone. A world-renowned collection. A landmark building. We bring the arts to life, inspiring visitors—through scholarly study and creative play—to discover the spirit of imagination that lies in everyone. We connect people with the arts in rich and varied ways, making the experience of the Museum surprising, lively, and always memorable. We are committed to inviting visitors to see the world—and themselves—anew through the beauty and expressive power of the arts.

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For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art by phone at 215-684-7860, by fax at 215-235-0050, or by e-mail at pressroom@philamuseum.org. The Museum is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street. For general information, call 215-763-8100.

About the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo

The Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo is a foundation for contemporary art, set up in Turin in 1995 by contemporary art collector Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. Active since 1992 at a personal level in the promotion of young artists, she saw in the creation of an arts foundation the opportunity to transform her passion into an organized activity able to collaborate more effectively with Italian and international institutions. Since then, the Fondazione has gone on to produce an annual exhibition program that supports contemporary artists. It has also gone on to commission or co-produce highly influential works of contemporary art, for presentation at the Fondazione’s main space in Turin, or for biennales and festivals abroad. Recent commissions include works and exhibitions by Berlinde De Bruyckere, Andra Ursuta, Ian Cheng, Ed Atkins and Adrian Villar Rojas. The Fondazione’s main aim is to encourage a greater understanding of contemporary art and of today’s leading trends internationally. The vast field of visual arts – painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation and performance – is analyzed and presented to the public not only through the exhibition program but also through an array of in-depth educational activities and events, such as conferences, talks led by artists, curators and critics from acclaimed Italian and international institutions.

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