Echoes of Alpha is an interdisciplinary audiovisual exhibition combining live music, visual art, and video performances to create a powerful, multi-sensory experience.

Inspired by the legacy of Alpha Art—an art gallery once run by the Arsheed family in Sweida, Syria before it was destroyed by the war in 2011—Echoes of Alpha takes audiences on an immersive journey. At its heart is a 50-minute soundscape, musically narrating the story behind each painting and bringing the artworks to life through sound and live visuals.

The exhibition explores themes of separation from the land of childhood and the transformation of pain into creative metamorphosis. With the resilient brushstrokes of Syrian painters Fouad Boutraba and Aiman Fudda intertwining with the Greek myth of Cadmus and Harmonia, Echoes of Alpha seeks a reconnection with the primordial force of life.

“In the happy places, the caresses float down from the mountains carried by the wind, and the brown earth warms them. The clouds stretch like washing lines where dreams can be hung to let them swell in the air, fresh every day. And life feels like a walk barefoot on the grass.In the happy places, life is as fresh as it was at the origin of the world.A-l-p-h-a. The beginning. The origin. The creation.”

Performers and Creative Team

• Sound Design/Electronics: Haian Arshied

• Violin: Alaa Arsheed

• Drums: Nassim Lopez

• Performer/Storyteller: Marwa Arsheed

• Sound Engineer/musician: Gian Pietro Masa

• Video Artist: Emanuel Nijkerk

• Artwork by: Fouad Boutraba and Aiman Fudda

• Story/Text: Sabrina Corsini

• Photography: Mo Alzaobi

This project is supported by the AFK (Amsterdam Fund for the Arts).