Conversations | Is patronage advocacy? Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Mercedes Vilardel

Lawrence Abu Hamdan, artist and Private Ear, London&nbsp; Mercedes Vilardell, collector and philanthropist, London and Mallorca&nbsp; Moderator: Coline Milliard, Executive Editor, Art Basel&nbsp; The relationship between artists and patrons is a fundamental driving force in the art world – it is also one that is too often reduced to the transactional. In this ongoing series, we ask a prominent collector to choose one artist with whom to explore the many forms patronage can take. London-based Mercedes Vilardell, who has been nominated this year in the Art Basel Awards’ Patron category, asked to be paired with Lawrence Abu Hamdan, a London-based artist who has persistently investigated the role that sound can play as forensic evidence. In 2023, Abu Hamdan founded Earshot, the world’s first nonprofit organization to use sound in the defense of human and environmental rights. Shortly after, Vilardell joined the organization. Together, they unpack how the collaboration between artists and collectors can be a true force for change. Mercedes Vilardell is a committed supporter of artists and institutions from the African continent. She is a member of the Africa Acquisitions Committee at Tate Modern, which she chaired for 10 years; the International Circle – Africa at the Pompidou; and the Executive Committee at the Reina Sofía Foundation in Madrid, among other roles. She is a trustee at Gasworks in London, where she supports the Studio Bursary for Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s nonprofit organization Earshot.&nbsp; Lawrence Abu Hamdan, the ‘Private Ear’, is an award-winning artist and audio investigator whose work has been presented in the form of forensic reports, lectures, live performances, films, publications, and exhibitions all over the world. In 2023, he founded Earshot, the world’s first organization to use sound in defense of human and environmental rights. Coline Milliard&nbsp;is the executive editor at Art Basel, where she oversees the editorial strategy and its implementation, as well as the Conversations program worldwide. Over the last 15 years, she has held several senior editorial positions including at artnet News and Modern Painters, and has written extensively about art across all sections of the market.

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