Lawrence Abu Hamdan (born 1985, Amman) is a ‘Private Ear’. His interest with sound and its intersection with politics originate from his background as a touring musician and facilitator of DIY music. The artist’s audio investigations have been used as evidence at the UK Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and as advocacy for organisations such as Amnesty International and Defence for Children International together with fellow researchers from Forensic Architecture. Abu Hamdan received his PhD in 2017 from Goldsmiths College, London and he is currently a fellow at the University of Chicago.

Abu Hamdan was the co-winner of the 2019 Turner Prize. In 2017, his film Rubber Coated Steel won the Tiger short film award at the Rotterdam International Film festival, the audience award at 25 FPS Festival in Zagreb, and the Dialog Award at European Media Art festival in Osnabruk. In 2016, he won the Nam June Paik Award for new media. His solo presentations have taken place at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2020); Witte De With, Rotterdam (2019); Tate Modern Tanks & Chisenhale Gallery, London (2018); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2018); Portikus, Frankfurt (2016); Kunsthalle St Gallen (2015) Beirut in Cairo (2013); The Showroom, London (2012) and Casco, Utrecht (2012). His works are part of collections at MoMA, Guggenheim, Van AbbeMuseum, Centre Pompidou and Tate Modern.