Studio Tarek Atoui
Studio Tarek Atoui
← Long-term research
ongoing2020 — ongoing

Waters' Witness

based on I/E (2015 — ongoing)

Waters' Witness is based on the ongoing project I/E Tarek Atoui initiated in 2015. Drawing upon research made in collaboration with the musicians and composers Chris Watson and Eric La Casa, Tarek Atoui uses sound recordings to document the human, ecological, historical and industrial realities of coastal cities that have a past rooted in their docklands, such as Athens, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Beirut and Porto. Working in close proximity to or under the water, Atoui uses various recording techniques to capture the sounds of the sea and docks, and materials such as metal, stone and wood.

The first iteration of Waters' Witness took place at the Fridericianum in Kassel in 2020, followed by a new version in the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in 2022. Then, Waters' Witness was presented in 2022 at the Mudam Luxembourg and in 2023 at the MCA Sydney.

Places
Doha · Milan · Sydney · Porto · Luxembourg · Kassel · Abu Dhabi · Elefsina · Paris
Material
water · metal · stone · wood
With
Chris Watson, Eric La Casa

Where & when

  1. 2025Waters' Witnesssolo · Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art — Doha, Qatar
  2. 2025Improvisation in 10 Dayssolo · Pirelli HangarBicocca — Milan, Italy
  3. 2023Waters' Witnesssolo · MCA — Museum of Contemporary Art Australia — Sydney, Australia
  4. 2022Waters' Witnesssolo · Serralves Foundation — Porto, Portugal
  5. 2022Waters' Witnesssolo · Mudam Luxembourg — Luxembourg, Luxembourg
  6. 2020Waters' Witnesssolo · Fridericianum — Kassel, Germany
  7. 2018I/Esolo · Serralves Foundation — Porto, Portugal
  8. 2017I/E Abu Dhabiperformance · Durub Al Tawaya Programme, Abu Dhabi Art — Abu Dhabi, UAE
  9. 2015I/E Elefsinasolo · Aisxylia Festival (with locus Athens) — Elefsina, Greece
  10. 2013I/Esolo · Hors-les-Murs Programme, FIAC — Paris, France

Gallery

Waters' Witness — Fridericianum

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Press