Horizons d’eaux: À l’Unisson
A contemporary and performing arts trail along the Canal du Midi
In 2026, the Canal du Midi celebrates the 30th anniversary of its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. To mark the occasion, Les Abattoirs, Musée – Frac Occitanie Toulouse, is launching a new artistic trail entitled Horizons d’eaux, designed in partnership with Voies navigables de France (VNF), the Convivencia Festival and numerous cultural and tourism stakeholders from the regions through which the canal passes.
This programme forms part of the European Relight project, which explores how contemporary creation can reveal and enhance cultural, natural and landscape heritage. A true link between towns, villages and landscapes, the Canal du Midi becomes a meeting place for history, the environment and contemporary artistic practices.
Conceived as a cultural itinerary, Horizons d’eaux brings together exhibitions, installations, works in public spaces, sound creations and events, open to all. The invited artists offer a sensitive perspective on the canal’s landscapes, its uses, its history and the transformations it is undergoing.
Through photography, painting, sculpture, video and sound, the works offer new ways of observing, listening to and understanding this exceptional region. Blending heritage with contemporary creation, Relight and Horizons d’eaux invite everyone to rediscover the Canal du Midi as a living space, brimming with stories, encounters and shared imaginations.
Félix Blume - À l'Unisson
A work created for the boat Tourmente, a floating stage at the Convivencia Festival
À l’Unisson [In Unison] is a monumental sound installation by Félix Blume taking the form of a 6.5-metre-long foghorn. Part sculpture, part musical instrument and part sound signal, it becomes a true voice of the Canal du Midi. Crafted from iron and brass, it evokes river vessels, wind instruments and the memory of the landscapes traversed.
Whilst sailing, the horn rests on the barge’s deck; during performances, it rises towards the sky like a giant tuba. Activated at various points along the route, it accompanies the festival’s journey and reveals the region’s sonic dimension.
Born in Narbonne in 1984 and based in the Minervois region, Félix Blume creates work centred on listening. Through his sound installations, he invites us to perceive landscapes, voices, natural phenomena and the invisible presences that inhabit these places in a new light. Félix Blume is the winner of the “Horizons d’eaux 2026” call for projects.
The full programme will be available very soon
