Maria Loura Estevão's installation S.O.S. takes as its starting point the Homeric poem The Odyssey – and in particular the passage of Ulysses and his companions through the territory of the sirens – to thematise underwater noise pollution and the maritime passage of migrants and refugees through the Mediterranean.

Sound is the central element of the installation and this extends into the dimensions of the double meaning of the French word sirènes, which means both mermaids and sirens – united in the role that the artist attributes to the mermaids of Ulysses as being the first feminist echoes that sound warnings. The sound here has the meaning of an alarm.

The installation features underwater sounds - sounds of fish - from the Tagus estuary and images conceived from the passive acoustic probe. Four theremin (Theremini Moog), musical instruments which, in this installation, represent the mermaids/sirens that resonate when a body crosses the electromagnetic field, appear hanging from the ceiling reflecting the cardinal points. Four inflatable boats (salvaged) are placed on the speakers, allowing you to feel the sound waves transmitted through the air.