Hajra Waheed's Sound-Based Exhibition at Kunstinstituut Melly Explores Listening as Political Act

Hajra Waheed presents a multidisciplinary exhibition at Kunstinstituut Melly opening April 18, 2026. Guest curator Hera Chan organized the show as part of the institution's Call & Response series. The exhibition centers on sound as both artistic method and political statement, with HUM (2020) featuring voices of political prisoners. Waheed's work examines power dynamics, surveillance, and displacement through drawing, painting, installation, and sound. The exhibition proposes listening as a collective, embodied practice that resists silencing mechanisms. Newly commissioned pieces alongside recent works create a constellation exploring sonic resistance. Intimate studies and artist books extend Waheed's investigation into visual language. The title references persistent currents beneath repressive regimes, framing the hum as both artistic form and political refusal.