Photo ©Domim Sedaghat

Ham Babaei is a Persian composer and sound artist currently based in Germany. He works with sound as a flexible and spatial material, exploring its physical, atmospheric, and emotional qualities. His artistic practice focuses on the relationship between sound, space, and perception. Through installations, performances, video works, and sound-based objects, he creates immersive environments in which sound becomes a way of experiencing and transforming space. As a sound artist, Ham Babaei is particularly interested in drone-based compositions and the subtle changes that occur within extended sound structures. He works with resonance, repetition, texture, and acoustic phenomena to create evolving sonic landscapes. Rather than treating sound as a fixed musical form, he approaches it as a spatial experience that surrounds the listener and invites a deeper engagement with listening. The guitar, in his practice, is not approached as a traditional musical instrument but as an object and a source of sonic possibilities. By placing the guitar in different contexts and using effects, amplification, and extended techniques, he creates layered sound environments that develop into atmospheric sonic carpets. His works often incorporate field recordings and microtonal melodies inspired by Eastern musical traditions, connecting personal memory, cultural references, and experimental sound practices. Audience participation and the listener’s presence are important elements in Ham Babaei’s work. He explores how perception changes when the audience becomes part of the completion of the artwork, transforming listening into an active and immersive experience.
Alongside his work as a sound artist, Ham Babaei is the founder, composer, and guitarist of the metal band BARAMANT, where he continues to explore the connection between composition, texture, and experimental sound.

Education

since 2025  Meister student in Fine Arts, by Prof. Georg Winter, HBKsaar, DE
2020-2025   Master of Fine Art – Sound Art, HBKsaar by Prof. Katharina Hinsberg, Prof. Eric Lanz & Prof Georg Winter, Saarbrücken, DE
2023-2024   Semester Abroad, Master of Contemporary Arts Practice, by Prof. Valerian Maly & Prof. Michael Harenberg, Bern Academy of the Arts, CH
2009-2011   Master of Painting, Art University, Isfahan, IR
2003-2007  Bachelor of Painting, Science and Culture University, Tehran, IR

Awards, Scholarships & Residencies

2026 State Graduate Scholarship (Landesgraduiertenförderung), Saarland, DE
2026    Studio Residency, KuBa, Saarbrücken, DE
2025    Deutschlandstipendium
2025    Peter and Luise Hager Prize — Finalist, DE
2024    Erasmus+, Exchange Semester, Hungarian University of Fine Arts, HU
2023    Deutschlandstipendium
2023    ERASMUS Funding — Semester Abroad, Bern Academy of the Arts, CH
2023    Kunst gewinnt — Artist Residency, Künstlerstadt Kalbe, DE
2022    DAAD Graduation Grant — Saarland Scholarship for International Students at the HBKsaar,DE
2021    9th International Sommercampus — Artist Residency, Künstlerstadt Kalbe, DE

Exhibition/Performance

2026   50,93661° N, 6,93113° E — Sound Installation, Passageways, Faber AG, Saarbrücken, DE
2026   Zusammen — Sound Performance , Kunst- und Designpreis der Arbeitskammer, HBK Gallery, Saarbrücken, DE
2026   Revival (1970-Now) — Sound Installation, Handwerkergasse, Völklingen, DE
2026   Link to —  collaborative work with Anna Nau, HBKsaar Gallery, Saarbrücken, DE
2025   Concert, Fiestohr Festival, Bern, CH
2025   Sound Performance – Kolla Festival, Luxemburg, LU
2025   Angry Textile — Sound Performance, UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site Völklinger Hütte, Völklingen, DE
2025   VTZU — Sound performance, E-Haus, HBKsaar, Saarbrücken, DE
2025   Sound performance — collaboration with Eszter Lukács, House of Music, Budapest, HU
2025   Rikma — Sound Performance, Group Exhibition, Gallery 1111, Budapest, HU
2025   Experimance Festival — Sound performance, Sektor Heimat, Saarbrücken, DE
2025   MUT — Peter and Luise Hager Prize, Sound installation, Saarländische Galerie, Berlin ,DE
2025   Zeitsprung-Kunst sieht Kunst — Sound Installation, Bode Museum, Berlin, DE
2025  MUT — Peter und Luise Hager Preis, HBKsaar Gallery, Saarbrücken, DE
2024   TCS Festival — Concert, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, DE
2024   The House of the European Artist — Sound installation, Group Exhibition,Hungarian University of Fine Art, HU
2024   Rikma — Sound Performance, Group Exhibition, HBKsaar Gallery, Saarbrücken, DE
2024   Unexpected visitors — Performance, Múseum Ludwig, Budapest, HU
2024   Performance  — ACT Festival, Progr, Bern, CH
2024   1,000,061  ART’S BIRTHDAY — after Robert Filliou, radio broadcast, Bern, CH
2023   Kosmos Nord — Concert, BuffetNord, Bern, CH
2023   Sonic Processes — Concert, Tanzhalle Wiesenburg, Wedding, Berlin, DE
2023   Carte Blanche 2 — Unwrap the Present, Performance, Progr, Bern, CH
2023   Experimance Festival — Sound installation, Garelly Haus, Saarbrücken, DE
2023   Sundieren – Group Exhibition, Sound Installation, Sundern, DE
2023   BetaTest — Sound Installation, E-Haus, Saarbrücken, DE
2023   Sound performance at Gertraudenhospital, Stendal, DE
2023   Sound performance at Amphitheater, Ökodorf Sieben Linden, Beetzendorf, DE
2022   Allerbeste Aussichten — PEAC Museum, Freiburg, DE
2022   Elf Ohren — Video art, Schaufenster, OPUS, Saarbrücken, DE
2022   BetaTest — Performance, E-Haus, Saarbrücken, DE
2022   Experimance Festival — Soundart Exhibition- Garelly Haus, Saarbrücken, DE
2022   Affenschaukel — Sound Performance, HBKsaar, DE
2022   Zwieschen Zeder und Platanen — Group Exhibition, Mainz Hochschule, DE
2022   5th Tehran International Electronic Music Festival, Tehran, IR
2021   Experimance Festival — Soundart Exhibition- Garelly Haus, Saarbrücken, DE
2021   Herzschlag — Sound Installation, “von wann bis wann”, Bismarkstraße 60, DE
2021   Drumherum — Group Exhibition, Video Art, Lu60, Saarbrücken, DE
2020  4th Tehran International Electronic Music Festival, -Baramant- Tehran, IR
2020  The-To-Play-Tool — Solo Exhibition — Platform 3, Tehran, IR
2020  Felony — Group Exhibition, Sound Art — Aliha Gallery, Tehran, IR
2019   DSTRCTION — Group Exhibition, Video-Sound Art – Austrian Cultural Forum, Tehran,IR
2019   Homarg — Baramant Art Project, The Unveiling, Darbast platform, Tehran, IR
2019   Adassar — Group Exhibition, Video-Sound Art, Darbast platform, Tehran, IR
2018   Status — GAK Gesellschaft für aktuelle Kunst, Bremen, DE
2018   Dead Room — Baramant Art Project, Darbast platform, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, IR
2018   Inversion  — Baramant Art Project, Emarate Rooberoo, Tehran, IR
2018   Beethoven Festival, Bonn, DE
2017   Gantelope — Baramant Art Project, Darbast platform, Tehran, IR
2017   Gantelope — Baramant Art Project, Austrian Cultural Forum, Tehran, IR
2016   Dastgah Festival — Baramant Art Project, Hannover, DE
2016   Baramant Art Project, in Farabi Hal, Art University, Tehran, IR
2016   Video / Sound performing Baramant Art Project in Mostaghel Theater, Tehran, IR
2015   Believing History — Baramant Art Project, Kloster, Lorsch, DE
2011   Sad Asar, Sad Honarmand, Golestan Gallery, Tehran, IR
2009  Music interpretation — Khane Honarmandan, Tehran, IR
2008  Composer in  The Glass Menagerie, Roodaki Hal, Tehran, IR
2008  Music interpreter at Funerals for Fereydoon, Farabi Hal, Art University, Tehran, IR

Workshop/Artist Talk
2023   European Design Festival — workshop, Casino Luxembourg, Luxemburg, LU
2017    Rock music and the audience — Artist Talk, Baramant Art Project, Hanouz Publication, Tehran, IR
2009   Painting Workshop — Contemporary Art Museum, Azadi Tower, Tehran, IR
2008   Painting Workshop — Felestin Museum, Tehran, IR

Curation/Artistic activities

since 2025  Gallery Manager at the HBKsaar Gallery, Saarbrücken, DE
2022  Assistant at the Gallery Ludwigstraße60, Saarbrücken, DE
2022  Curator of  Video Exhibition “Yet alone”- from Student of HBK Saar- Eve Gallery, Tehran, IR
2020  Actor in the video “Ein Man” by Donja Fard
2018  Curator of Exhibition “Overlap”, 3Platform, Tehran, IR
2018  Actor in the video “Gespräch” by Hassan Sheidaei
2016   Actor in the Video ” Das Unerreichbare” by Hassan Sheidaei
2016  Light designer for the video “Mein Sohn” by Hassan Sheidaei
2015  Composer for the videos “Frei im Gefängnis“,  and ” Das Unerreichbare”
2015  Assistant at the video “K2”, awarded audience prize
2014  Curator at the Painting Workshop “Me”, Boostan Book City, Tehran, IR
2010-2013  Composer and Guitarplayer of the music band “Accolade”
2012  Contributor to the album “Seven Pairs of Steely Shoes and Helmets“

Teaching

2026  Lecturer in Sound Art, Hochschule für Bildende Künste Saar, Saarbrücken, DE
2015-2020  Lecturer in Painting at University of Science and Culture, Tehran, IR

Publications/Press

2022   OPUS — Das Kulturmagazin der Großregion, Nov/Dez 2022, by Nicole Baronsky-Ottmann, DE
2021    Gardelegner Kreisanzeiger Newspaper — Volksstimme.de –  by Malte Schmidt, DE
2021    ContemporaryIdentities — International online art magazine -Issue No 10, by Izmer Bin Ahmad, UAE
2018    Unlimited Reaction — Zard Magazine, Mohsen Gallery, by Akram Ahmadi-Tavana, IR
2013    Iran’s underground music scene — CBS News, USA