Events
LARG News Item
Feb 2012
Sound artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan has created an audio documentary
titled The Freedom of Speech Itself.
The documentary is part of a bigger project – titled Aural Contract
– which examines the politics of listening through a focus on the role of the
voice in law. It looks at the history and contemporary application of forensic
speech analysis and voice-prints, focusing on the UK’s controversial use of
voice analysis to determine the origins and authenticity of asylum seekers’
accents. The exhibit consists of audio recordings, an interactive PC display,
and some visual elements, and continues on exhibition in London to 17 March 2012
at The Showroom, 63 Penfold Street, London NW8.
The audio portion of the exhibit includes interviews with
LARG co-convenors Peter Patrick and
Diana Eades as well as other forensic linguists: "Testimonies from lawyers,
phonetic experts, asylum seekers and Home Office officials reveal the
geo-politics of accents and the practice of listening that led to shocking
stories of wrongful deportations. When combined with the experimental audio
composition these interviews are designed to fully immerse the listener in the
heart of a discussion that profoundly problematises the nature of listening,
forensics, free speech, migration, borders and the law".