MCA Tarek Atoui
Tarek Atoui: Waters’ Witness opens this weekend at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia), the first major presentation in Australia by the celebrated Lebanese artist and composer.
A multi-faceted artist and performer, Tarek Atoui (b. 1980, Beirut) works with the sensorial and spatial possibilities of sound – both as a catalyst for social interaction and its relationship to place, history and ecology.
Waters’ Witness is an exhibition that combines elements of the artist’s ongoing ten-year project dedicated to capturing the sounds of harbour cities, from Athens to Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Beirut, Porto, Istanbul and now Sydney. It encompasses a composition of tangible and intangible forms – an installation, performances, publications and an archive of sounds – that continually evolve as each new harbour is added.
At MCA Australia, Atoui has been commissioned to create new sculptures using Sydney sandstone and equipped with a sound system. The sculptures are inspired by the cohabitational zones Atoui witnessed along Sydney’s shorelines in March 2023, where he recorded sounds of Sydney Harbour and the Port Botany area and observed the convergence of nature, society, and industry.
MCA Tarek Atoui
MCA Australia Curator Anna Davis, exhibition curator of Waters’ Witness said: “Like many of Tarek Atoui’s projects, Waters’ Witness is not a static entity. It continues to shift and change, much like its subject matter. Port cities serve as the juncture where land and waters meet. They are points of departure and arrival, embodying the essence of ebb and flow, gateways, and exchanges, rather than characteristics that are stationary or fixed.”
Waters’ Witness is part of a series of exhibitions created in the MCA’s Macgregor Gallery that present significant works by some of today’s most relevant living artists.
Public Program
Live performances by Atoui and guests are programmed within the exhibition, together with a series of sound-based educational workshops.
The opening weekend program includes:
Artist performances: Tarek Atoui
Friday, September 15, 2023, 7:00pm
Saturday, September 16, 2023, 2:00pm
Tarek Atoui conducts live sonic performances within the Waters’ Witness space
Artist in conversation: Tarek Atoui and Anna Davis
Saturday, September 16, 2023, 3:30–4:15pm
Tarek Atoui discusses Waters’ Witness with MCA Curator, Anna Davis
For further information on the events, tours and programs accompanying the exhibition visit mca.com.au
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia would like to thank Supporting Exhibition Patrons Chloe and Andrew Podgornik.
Tarek Atoui: Waters’ Witness opens on 15 September 2023 and runs until 4 February 2024, in the Macgregor Gallery, Level 1, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.
