Sounds from Tripoli was conceived as a journey into memory, sound, and place. In its first performance, Sufian Ararah shared the stage with Ahmed Al Sharif (vocal–poetry), Paul Rittel (cello), and Andreas Staffel (piano). Together they wove music, film, and poetry into an evocative portrait of Tripoli, Sufian’s hometown. The oud and cello are intertwined in rhythmically rich compositions, shaped by Mediterranean, North African, Jazz, and Classical traditions. Images and photography, drawn from more than a decade of filming in Libya, unfolded alongside the music — glimpses of the medina, the coast, family rituals, and fleeting everyday moments.

In a country long closed to the outside world — first through decades of isolation, later through unrest and conflict — Tripoli remained unseen by most. Through Sounds from Tripoli, Sufian offered not explanations, but invitations: to feel the city’s texture, its silences and rhythms, its poetry carried through sound and image.

He now continues to tour with the program, carrying with him both his music and his decade of filmography, opening windows into Tripoli wherever the performance is staged.