Tarek Atoui’s (b. 1980, Beirut) work inhabits the intersection of visual and sound arts. Known for his sound installations and performances, Atoui privileges a sensory approach along with an investigative process that embraces history, anthropology, ethnology and musicology. He considers sound to be a catalyst for humaninteraction leading him to collaborate with musicians, as well as researchers and composers. Invited by Mudam Luxembourg in 2022–23, Atoui presented the exhibition Waters’ Witness in the Grand Hall. Drawing upon this research, Atoui used sound recordings to document the human, ecological, historical and industrialrealities 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 underthe water, he used various recording techniques to capture the sounds of the sea and docks, and materials such as metal, stone and wood.

Whispered Harbours (2022) is closely linked to Mudam’s exhibition and has been especially conceived for the museum merging two of Tarek Atoui’s ongoing projects (The Whisperers and Waters’ Witness). One stone trough from The Whisperers series and one bronze dome from Waters’ Witness are filled with water,with underwater speakers placed into them, playing a 90 min composition of harbour sounds, that Atoui has created for his exhibition at Mudam. The trough and the dome are each installed with underwater microphones and subject to water drops and air flows. Inside the water in both stone and bronze receptacles, harbour sounds and sounds of air and water drops merge and the result is heard on speakers hidden in the work’s surroundings. Whispered Harbours can be shown as an indoor or outdoor work. In both configurations, the work will act like a clepsydra in which delicate sound events blend with the sounds of harbours and thoseof their surroundings.