The AlUla Arts Festival 2025 opened with a performance by renowned contemporary artist and composer Tarek Atoui on January 16. Held at Bayt Al Hams (The Whispering House), the event showcased Atoui’s latest work, an immersive sound piece inspired by AlUla’s interplay of natural landscapes, history, and community.Through Bayt Al Hams, Atoui explores sound as a multi-sensory experience—felt, seen, and embodied.
This public concert performance marked the start of Atoui’s three-year collaboration with AlUla’s contemporary art museum, developed in partnership with the Royal Commission for AlUla and France’s Centre Pompidou. Set to open in 2027, the museum aims to serve as a platform for regional and global contemporary art, fostering creativity across the Arab world.
Bayt Al Hams embodies Atoui’s vision of a space for long-term experimentation, engagement, and transformation. The concept draws inspiration from his earlier work The Whispering Playground (2022), a project that emphasised play as a method of exploring sound and listening. Bayt Al Hams is designed to function as both an interactive installation and a hub for collaboration, hosting musicians, artists, students, and local community members.
Atoui’s approach to sound-making is deeply experimental, rooted in manipulating instruments, objects, and natural materials to uncover the multi-sensory dimensions of sound. In his opening performance, Atoui partnered with musicians Sandy Chamoun, Anthony Sahyoun, Jad Atoui, and Toma Gouband, blending field recordings of AlUla’s geological features with contemporary music. This process incorporated custom-designed instruments and sound objects, some introduced to Saudi Arabia for the first time, reflecting the transformative nature of his work.
Bayt Al Hams is envisioned as a space in constant evolution. When unoccupied, it continues to produce sound as an installation. Over the next three years, it will welcome local schools, international guests, and practitioners to participate in workshops, improvisation sessions, and collaborative experiments. Instruments and ideas from Atoui’s past projects will serve as starting points, evolving organically through contributions from AlUla’s craftspeople, musicians, and materials. This metamorphosis will shape a sonic identity rooted in AlUla’s landscape and community.
Atoui’s influences for this project include composers John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, and Pauline Oliveros, whose work on time, architecture, and deep listening resonates with his vision. The Whispering House bridges sound, architecture, and light, with plans to expand as part of the contemporary art museum, designed by architect Lina Ghotmeh. This evolving project aims to reflect AlUla’s dynamic development, creating a dialogue between its natural heritage, artistic innovation, and community engagement.
About Tarek Atoui
Tarek Atoui is an artist and electroacoustic composer who delves into the transformative power of sound, creating immersive installations, experimental acoustic environments, and collaborative performances that challenge traditional perceptions. His practice transcends the boundaries of music and art, involving partnerships with composers, musicians, and craftsmen from around the world. Together, they design and construct intricate instruments that blend innovative sound technologies with sculptural aesthetics. These custom-built creations serve as both functional tools and striking artworks, reflecting Atoui’s commitment to experimentation and cross-cultural dialogue. His work invites audiences to engage deeply with sound as a physical, emotional, and communal experience.
Location: AlUla, KSA Northwestern Desert
Dates: January 11 – February 22, 2025