Tate
About the Exhibition
Tarek Atoui will create the next annual Hyundai Commission. Tarek Atoui is an artist and composer celebrated for his innovative performances and installations that explore and challenge traditional perceptions of the medium of sound.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1980, Atoui lives and works in Paris, France. Drawing on his extensive research into music history, instrumentation and production, the artist creates multisensory environments that re-think how we understand and experience sound. Central to his practice is the invention of intricately engineered instruments, made in collaboration with other artists, composers and makers, which double as sculptural objects. Often featuring organic elements such as glass, water and ceramics, these custom-made and imaginatively rethought instruments are activated by touch, breath and motors. Atoui combines the resulting music with environmental recordings from various geographical locations and computer-generated sounds to create immersive installations and collaborative performances. Extending the act of listening beyond the organ of the ear, his work investigates how sound can be experienced through multiple senses, opening the medium to tactile and visual forms of perception.
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui is curated by Nabila Abdel Nabi, Senior Curator, International Art (Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational), Tate Modern and Dina Akhmadeeva, Assistant Curator, International Art, Tate Modern.
About the Artist
Tarek Atoui (b.1980, Beirut, Lebanon) is a sound artist based in Paris, France. He received a BA in sound art and electro-acoustic music from the French National Conservatory of Reims, France in 1998. He has exhibited and presented performances at major institutions globally, including at TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Madrid, Spain (2025); HangarBicocca, Milan, Italy (2025); S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium (2024); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia (2023); the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal (2022 and 2018); Bourse du Commerce- Pinault Collection, Paris, France (2021); Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE (2020); the 58th Venice Biennale, Italy (2019); Tate Modern, London (2016); Serpentine Gallery, London, UK (2012); and documenta 13, Kassel, Germany (2012). His work is held in prestigious international collections, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; New York, USA; Saradar Collection, Beirut, Lebanon; Tate, London, UK; and the Pinault Collection, Paris, France. He was awarded the Suzanne Deal Booth / FLAG Art Foundation Prize in 2022.
About the Program
Hyundai Commission
The annual Hyundai Commission is a series of new, site-specific installations by international artists in Tate Modern’s iconic Turbine Hall. It is made possible by the long-term partnership between Tate and Hyundai Motor, now confirmed until 2036. The partnership, recently extended for another decade, was founded in 2014 with the longest initial commitment from a corporate partner in Tate’s history and encompasses support of both the Hyundai Commission and the Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational. Attracting over 19 million visitors since it began, the Hyundai Commission gives artists the chance to interpret the vast industrial space of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, producing some of the most bold and memorable artworks of the past decade.
