The non-profit organization Earshot, founded by artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan, has been awarded a three-year studio bursary at London's Gasworks. The bursary, backed by Spanish patron Mercedes Vilardell, provides an annual stipend and covers monthly rent for a studio space at the south London exhibition and residency space. Earshot uses sound in the defense of human and environmental rights, and the residency gives it a platform to operate independently after an incubation period with Forensic Architecture. Abu Hamdan and Earshot will also take over the Barbican Centre this autumn for an event titled Repercussions, featuring installations, performances, screenings, and live music.
This matters because it marks a significant institutional recognition of sound-based investigative work as a legitimate form of cultural production and human rights advocacy. Earshot's methods—treating sound as evidence of violence and control—have already influenced campaigns by major organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The Gasworks residency provides a stable base for Earshot to expand its work, including developing an earwitness interview tool and researching coral reefs, while the Barbican event brings these practices to broader public audiences, treating listening as a civic act.