WITHIN

Initiated with Sharjah Art Foundation and Al Amal School for the Deaf, WITHIN was enriched by the contribution of the curatorial duo Council (Sandra Terdjman and Gregory Castera). A series of workshops were developed over the years including with the school for the Deaf in South Lebanon where they recorded the harbour of Beirut in 2019. Following these years of research, a series of nine experimental instruments were developed. Conceived as both sonic and sensory devices, these instruments are activated in concerts and exhibition settings, where they invite alternative modes of perception. Their design and playability emerged through a long process of collaboration with acoustic instrument makers, speaker designers, software engineers, composers, as well as Deaf and hearing participants. This collective approach gradually shaped a unique instrumentarium grounded in shared knowledge and embodied experimentation. In September 2016, the instruments were brought together for the first time at Sentralbadet, an abandoned swimming pool, as part of the Bergen Assembly. Composers and musicians - amateur and professional, Deaf and hearing, were invited to explore and activate the instruments, individually or collectively. This open format turned the exhibition into a space of experimentation, where WITHIN further evolved.