The Legitimated Body and Navigated Listener

The Legitimated Body and Navigated Listener

Hardi & Khabat

A live collaboration between Hardi, Khabat, an unusual interactive radio and a shell bomb cello, in transcendent dialogue with artists and audiences in Slemani, Iraqi Kurdistan.

In this anarchic act of rogue legitimation, Hardi manipulates a radio circuit board to play unfrequented frequencies inspired by a very specific listening memory of Hardi’s; his own ‘illegal’ immigration to Europe in 2002.

Having travelled inside a shipping container with a small radio he used to gather intelligence on his surroundings, the noises from the radio created a new listening knowledge. Khabat makes a cello out of a shell bomb.

Commenting on the power of authorities to find loopholes to legitimise the unlawful, particularly the illegal global trade of arms, Hardi and Khabat will be in sonic dialogue with their home city of Slemani, questioning the integrity of international law and who it is for.

In this unusual night of corporeal rebellion, the audience in each location will use their bodies to affect the frequencies heard in the other city. An invitation to explore the hidden rules behind the rules. An invitation for family members, friends, and strangers across the two cities to come together.

Created in collaboration with Station House Opera.
Co-presented with Watermans Arts Centre.
Generously supported by British Council and Arts Council England.