Magdi Mostafa, Planting Sound (2014). Image courtesy of the artist.
| Dates: | 23 June – 16 August 2015 |
| Location: | Hayward Gallery Project Space, Southbank Centre |
| Afternoon of performances: | 18 July 2015, 14:00 – 18:00 Queen Elizabeth Hall Front Room, Southbank Centre Schedule |
| Entrance: | Free |
This exhibition examines aural culture and oral history through the work of six contemporary artists. Using a variety of media, the evocative potential of sound is explored, from stories to music to ambient noise, connecting the past to the present. The artworks employ different sonic strategies to both conjure and challenge cultural memory. Sound becomes a medium of performing history and, in turn, listening a performative act.
Artists include: Jumana Emil Abboud, Basma Alsharif, Anas Al-Shaikh, Samah Hijawi, Magdi Mostafa, and Joe Namy.
Echoes & Reverberations runs in tandem with A Prologue to the Past and Present State of Things at Delfina Foundation. Both exhibitions launch Staging Histories, a new research and commissioning platform for performance art. Through archival research and new commissions, Staging Histories traces seminal moments of performance mapping shared histories and contemporary global concerns. The first stage of the project explores performance art from and in relation to the Arab world.
Co-curated by Aaron Cezar, Director, Delfina Foundation, and Cliff Lauson, Curator, Hayward Gallery, with Jane Scarth, Residency and Projects Manager, Delfina Foundation, and Eimear Martin and Dominik Czechowski, Assistant Curators, Hayward Gallery.
An online catalogue has been produced in collaboration with Ibraaz Platform 009, which addresses the genealogies of performance art in North Africa and the Middle East. Contributors include Anthony Downey (Editor-in-Chief, Ibraaz), Aaron Cezar (Director, Delfina Foundation), Cliff Lauson (Curator, Hayward Gallery), Alexandra MacGilp (Curator, Maraya Art Centre) and writer Rayya Badran. Please download here.
Credits
Echoes & Reverberations is a collaboration between Hayward Gallery, Delfina Foundation, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah and Shubbak – A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture (11-26 July 2015) with additional support raised through A. M. Qattan Foundation and the Art Basel Crowdfunding Initiative on Kickstarter.
We are grateful to the major supporters of our crowdfunding campaign: Perihan Bassatne, Maya Rasamny, Fatima Maleki, Marwan T. Assaf, Raghida Ghandour, Jenny Hall, and Midge Palley.
Special thanks to our other generous crowdfunders: The Third Line Gallery, Dana Farouki, Maria Sukkar, Maryam Eisler, Mourad Mazouz, Joana Schliemann, Rose Issa, Sheena Wagstaff, Isabelle van den Eynde Gallery, Mona Khashoggi, Hanan Sayed Worrell, Zeina Durra & Saadi Soudavar, Faris Smadi, Paola Weiss, Nawel Khelil, Gabriela Galceran, Maya Nassereddine, James Lindon, Layla Binbrek, Ruth|Catone, Sabrina Amrani Gallery, Yola Noujaim, Yassi Sohrabi, Kate Jones, Nadine Toukan, Khalid Mezaina, Samallie Kiyingi, Albertine Kopp, Salma Tuqan, Cathy Costain, Lawrie Shabibi Gallery, Zain Masud, Antonia Carver, Lisa Fischman, Kavita Chellaram, Burcu Yuksel, Abdullah AlTurki, Mary Sabbatino, Omar Berrada, Madeline McLean, Jared & George, L M De Felice, Aisha Mazin Stoby, Hind Mezaina, Alessio Antoniolli, Oussama Rifahi, Camilla Barella, May Calil, Luiza Texeira de Freitas, Karim Mostafa, Justine Ludwig, Alia Fattouh, Ellen Wettmark & Hans Rosenstom, Ali Cherri, Alia Al-Senussi, Vali Mahlouji, and Mareike Dittmer.
Special thanks to Stephanie Bailey, Yasmina Reggad and Eckhard Thiemann.