Nottingham Contemporary exhibition maps Arab world through sound and listening

At Nottingham Contemporary, there's a fascinating exhibition called 'From Ear to Ear to Eye' that explores how sound, music, and listening can serve as unique ways to map the Arab world. It features 17 artists, including Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, who created the 2016 video ISMYRNE, focusing on memory with poet Etel Adnan. Adnan's Leporellos series from 1999 to 2012 showcases hand-painted Arabic poetry in impressive five-meter-long booklets. Additionally, Raed Yassin's Ruins in Space (2014) reimagines a famous 1967 performance by Umm Kulthum as if it were aired from space. Lawrence Abu Hamdan's Earshot (2016) examines the tragic 2014 deaths of two Palestinian teens through sound analysis. The exhibition emphasizes a shift from Western narratives to those rooted in sound and oral traditions.