The Ground

It led to collaborations with instrument and ceramic makers, and musicians for the realization of new instruments that were first presented in the exhibitions The Reverse Collection at Tate Modern in 2016, and Soil and Stones, Souls and Songs at Para/Site in Hong Kong in 2017. This research was later combined with their experimentation in the form of sound compositions that audiences can visit and listen to, as well as workshops and performances.

A further phase of experimentation and performances followed at Mirrored Gardens in 2017 and in the context of the exhibition The Ground: From the Land to the Sea, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore in 2018, where the resulting instruments were set up by Atoui to play separately and autonomously. Various artists and musicians were invited to experiment with the instruments and explore their sounds.

The composition The Ground was finalised in 2019 and presented as part of May You Live in Interesting Times at the 58th Venice Biennale, as a completed composition and listening space based on the project's previous iterations. It has since been presented in the exhibitions Cycles in 11 at the Sharjah Art Foundation in 2020, and in Ouvertures at the Pinault Collection, Bourse de Commerc in 2021.

The Ground Septet, a new composition for seven instruments created for The Ground and exploring the principles of rotation and vibration, as well as the circulation of water, was part of the composition Inner Garden presented at The Forest Festival in 2024, and at Mirrored Gardens, in 2025.