Lawrence Abu Hamdan's exhibition "Zifzafa" has opened at the Munch Museum in Oslo, featuring a politically charged exploration of sound as both a celebration of life and a tool of displacement. The show centers on a forensic audio investigation into the impact of 31 wind turbines planned for the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, or Jawlan. Key works include the video projection *Wind Ensemble* (2024) featuring saxophonist Amr Mdah, CGI animations *Tilting at windmills i, ii & iii* (2024), and the 45-minute film *Zifzafa: Livestream Audio Essay* (2025), which uses a video game walkthrough format to simulate the sonic pollution that will affect local homes—some as close as 115 feet from the turbines. The game incorporates field recordings by local composer Busher Kanj Abu Saleh and turbine noise from Germany, highlighting the sounds of daily life and resistance.
This exhibition matters because it uses innovative, immersive audio-visual techniques to address a pressing geopolitical and environmental issue: the displacement of indigenous populations through infrastructure projects in occupied territories. By making the video game open-source and available online, Abu Hamdan allows global audiences to experience the future sonic impact and the acts of resistance embedded in everyday sounds, such as the autonomous water network built by the Jawlani people. The show underscores the role of contemporary art in forensic investigation and political activism, demonstrating how sound can document, protest, and preserve cultural life under threat.