‘Aftersound: Mhamad Safa in Conversation with Gascia Ouzounian.’

Resonance (2023) 4 (4): 381-390

Countersonics: Radical Sonic Imaginaries is a new series convened by Gascia Ouzounian. This conversation, the first in the series, took place at The Showroom, London, on March 8, 2022. It brings together the sound producer and architect Mhamad Safa and Ouzounian in exploring Safa’s work on sound, trauma, and acoustic jurisprudence, with a focus on Beirut and Lebanon. The conversation covers a range of topics, from the differential policing of noise along lines of social difference; to earwitnessing war and conflict; to the long-term unfolding of auditory forms of trauma and “sonic aftershocks.” Safa and Ouzounian discuss the need for better legal frameworks for confronting the harms of sound; what “collateral damage” might constitute in the context of listening to warfare; and what justice would mean for survivors of sonic violence.

This conversation was co-presented by SONCITIES and The Showroom as part of the public programming for Haig Aivazian’s solo exhibition All of Your Stars Are but Dust on My Shoes (January 26–March 26, 2022). We are grateful to the staff at The Showroom, including curator Lily Hall, then-managing director Seema Manchanda, and assistant curator Oana Damir; and Haig Aivazian for his incisive and inspiring work.

This conversation appears in a Resonance: A Journal of Sound and Culture as part of the Special Series ‘Militarized Ecologies: Auralities, Incorporations, Terrain’ co-edited by Alejandra Bronfman and María Edurne Zuazu.