Aural Contract, Reardon Smith Theatre, Cardiff
Wed 8 June
Seeing Voices, The Gate, Cardiff
Thurs 9 June
Artes Mundi will be collaborating with the Festival of Voice at the Wales Millennium Centre. Founded in 2002 by Welsh artist William Wilkins, Artes Mundi is an internationally focused arts organisation that supports contemporary artists who explore human lives, experiences and social reality. Artes Mundi is predominately known for its international exhibition and prize, which takes place every other year in Cardiff.
The Wales-based charity will be taking part in the festival with Aural Contract, a new co-commissioned work by Beirut-based artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Seeing Voices, a performance by the acclaimed British band Woman’s Hour.
Aural Contract brings together Abu Hamdan’s interest in sound and its relationship with politics. It aims to help understand the role of voice in law and the ways in which it affects border control, medical sciences and surveillance. Aural Contract will be performed as a live audio essay combined with pre-recorded samples to challenge the ways we communicate today.
Seeing Voices will be performed as part of a tour of UK arts venues that Woman’s Hour are embarking on.
After receiving a positive reaction when they released a video for their 2014 song Her Ghost which featured a young deaf actor performing the lyrics in British Sign Language (BSL), the band developed the idea into a live touring performance, which will be performed for the first time in Wales at the festival.
Aural Contract. Admission: free. Info: 029 2039 7951 / www.museumwales.ac.uk; Seeing Voices. Tickets: £5. Info: 029 2048 3344 / www.thegate.org.uk (LH)
