Kiluanji Kia HendaThe Sound is the Monument, 2022
Inkjet print on photographic paper
100 x 64 cm
The Sound Is the Monument by Kiluanji Kia Henda reimagines the traditional monument as a living, democratic sound sculpture. Instead of commemorating heroic figures in stone, the work invites local participants to sing a single note—the G-note—until they run out of breath. These recordings are layered and played daily from a geometric plinth, transforming collective breath into a resonant memorial. Presented in Bergen (2022) and later in Almada (2025) at the site of a dismantled colonial pedestal, the work uses sound to reclaim public space and honour shared, often silenced histories.
