At-Tāriq

A Majlis is a traditional space of hospitality in Arab and North African homes, where guests are received and offered shelter and conviviality. This ethos of hospitality animates Tarek Atoui's long-term research project At-Tāriq, meaning “The Nightcomer” or “The Morning Star.” Here, hospitality extends to what could be called “poetic hospitality" - an openness to collaboration, a sympathy between sensibilities, a morphology of alliance. The night, after all -in many cultures belongs to a different order, connected to the unknowable, to intimacy, and the poetic.

Produced by TBA21, At-Tāriq: the Tamazgha Chapter opens this journey in 2025. Emerging from two years of exchange with musicians and artisans from Morocco's Atlas region and well beyond, it proposes a space of poetic hospitality, composed around the Majlis. Building on Atoui's approach, which fuses traditional and contemporary expressions of sound, performance and craftsmanship, At-Tāriq is activated by a suite of experimental sonic objects. Suspended from the ceiling in layered stacks, these kinetic instruments produce textured tonalities that seem to emerge from the mineral elements of the Atlas Mountains. Made by Amazigh artisans, they carry the imprint of generations of knowledge and material sensibilities. The composition functions as a living archive of Arab and Amazigh music, translated into an electroacoustic "soundtrack" composed and performed with Atoui's collaborators. Developed during a residency in Córdoba with percussionist Susie Ibarra, musician Nancy Mounir and DJ-composer Ziúr, and later expanded with other contributors, it circulates through the objects and reverberates across the Majlis spaces.

Tarek Atoui continues his long-term research trajectory with The Sahara Chapter, a three-year research project commissioned by Hartwig Art Foundation expanding into Tunisia and Algeria. Like Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have long been significant crossroads for migration, trade and cultural exchange, particularly with sub-Saharan Africa. Their vast Saharan territories hosted pilgrimage and commercial routes that carried not only goods but also musical traditions, craftsmanship and cultural knowledge: drum-making techniques, the use of animal skins for percussion instruments, as well as knowledge of pigments, bead-making, textiles and metalwork. In the context of the Hartwig Art Foundation, this research will also turn to the Maghreb diaspora in the Netherlands, exploring how these communities continue to engage with traditional practices, adapting them to new contexts and creating hybrid forms that combine local traditions with contemporary Dutch expressions. These collaborations will be key in creating new sound pieces, crafts and performances that blend traditional techniques with contemporary artistic methods.