The Violin and the Whale

Whales use sound to communicate across vast distances, navigate and find one another. But beneath the surface, the acoustic world of the ocean is changing as shipping, sonar and other human activity introduce an ever-growing layer of noise.

Marie-Kell de Cannart, known as EMKA, has made this hidden world the focus of both her science and her music. A marine biologist, bioacoustician, sailor and violinist, she has crossed the Atlantic to record whales and document underwater noise. Today, she brings those recordings into live performances, creating a dialogue between her violin and the voices of the ocean.

Joining her is Princess Esmeralda de Belgique, a journalist, author and environmental advocate who has spent decades documenting and defending the natural world. As Chair of the Léopold III Fund for Exploration and Nature Conservation, she has continued a long-standing engagement with exploration, biodiversity and conservation. She is also the co-founder of Sueña, the journalistic project behind the portrait we will screen this evening.

Through film, live music and conversation, the two will explore what the ocean can tell us when we learn to listen, and what we risk losing as human activity reaches ever deeper beneath the surface.

The evening will be hosted by Séverine Dieudonné, journalist and former BBC correspondent.