THEY ARE HERE

THEY ARE HERE is an ongoing sound art project composed of voices and field recordings sent from Gaza, Palestine, by individuals I have been supporting.

Through these sonic fragments, the work amplifies the presence of lives and their culture — lives that have been displaced, silenced, or erased by genocide.

It stands not only as an archive of sound, but as a gesture of care, connection, and resistance — defying the normalization of violence and the politics of disappearance.

Since the summer of 2024, I have been supporting several families in Gaza — sending donations, exchanging messages, and building close relationships despite the devastation.
One of them, Ola, was pregnant and living in a temporary tent after her husband was killed in a bombing. I helped her rent a safe apartment so she could give birth to her baby — funded through this project’s income and my own.
Over time, these individuals have become like sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, dear friends.

One day, I saw a video of a white woman in Tokyo mockingly telling a protester, “Palestine doesn’t exist.”I was stunned, furious, and heartbroken. I know these people. I speak with them. I love them. They exist.

One of them, Kefah, once asked me to send my voice to the world.

This project arises from that emotional ground — from the need to make their presence heard, through sound.

Now, I’m also working to build a small-scale financial system to compensate these contributors — not as charity, but as collaborators.

Marihiko Hara (THEY ARE HERE Founder, Musician)

They / Are / Here

Truth / Act / Humanity

Testimony / Archive / Hope