Tarek Atoui: Waters’ Witness

The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia) presents Tarek Atoui: Waters’ Witness, the first major presentation by the artist and composer in Australia.

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 project dedicated to capturing the sounds of harbour cities, from Athens to Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Beirut, Porto, Istanbul and now Sydney. The work encompasses a composition of tangible and intangible forms—an installation, performances, publication and an archive of sounds.

Working with musicians and field recording specialists Chris Watson and Éric La Casa, Atoui has recorded sounds close to the sea, under the water and through materials such as metal, stone and wood. He also has collected objects and materials at each site, transforming them into resonant sculptures and speakers.

For MCA Australia, Atoui has created new sculptures that incorporate Sydney sandstone and diverse sound systems. The sculptures are inspired by the cohabitational zones Atoui witnessed along Sydney’s shorelines including Sydney Harbour and the Port Botany area, sites of convergence of nature, society, and industry.

Waters’ Witness at MCA Australia is curated by Anna Davis. The exhibition was first produced by the Fridericianum, Kassel, in cooperation with the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, and Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean.

Waters’ Witness is part of a series of exhibitions created in the MCA’s Macgregor Gallery that present significant works of today’s most relevant living artists.

Publication
The exhibition will be accompanied by a new publication designed by Goda Budvytytė and published by the MCA Australia. The fourth in a series documenting Waters’ Witness, the publication is created with Atoui’s long-term collaborator, Alexandre Guirkinger, and incorporates an evocative photo essay by the French photographer, as well as a foreword by MCA Australia Director Suzanne Cotter, and an interview between Atoui and exhibition curator Anna Davis. Available at the MCA Store and online from late 2023.

Also on show
Al río / To the River, the first major exhibition of the internationally renowned artist Zoe Leonard in the Southern Hemisphere, until November 5. MCA Collection: Artists in Focus highlighting work by Australian artists: Joan Brassil, Kevin Gilbert, Simryn Gill, Jumaadi, Tracey Moffatt, Sancintya Mohini Simpson, John Nixon, Leyla Stevens, Alick Tipoti and over 60 bark paintings from the Arnott’s Biscuits Collection showcases the work of Aboriginal artists from the communities of Groote Eylandt, Yirrkala, Galiwin’ku, Milingimbi, Maningrida, Ramingining, Gunbalanya, Wadeye and the Tiwi Islands. Primavera 2023: Young Australian Artists, until February 4, 2024, featuring the next generation of Australian contemporary artists, aged 35 years and under.

About the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia)  
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia) is Australia’s leading museum of contemporary art, dedicated to presenting, collecting, and engaging with the art of our time. Located on the edge of Sydney Harbour, at Tallawoladah, the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, MCA Australia provides a vital platform for contemporary art and ideas in Australia and beyond. MCA Australia makes contemporary art and ideas widely accessible through its exhibitions, public engagement, learning, access, and social impact programs. The Museum’s Collection, including over 4,600 artworks, is the only public collection in Australia dedicated exclusively to contemporary art. Over a third of the Collection is represented by works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners of the land and waters upon which MCA Australia stands.

For further information on the events, tours and programs accompanying the exhibition visit mca.com.au