Beirut-born sound artist Tarek Atoui makes the eleventh Hyundai Commission for the Turbine Hall, a work built from instruments he invents and plays as sculpture.
Beirut-born sound artist Tarek Atoui makes the eleventh Hyundai Commission for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern on Bankside, from Tuesday 13 October 2026 to Sunday 11 April 2027.
Atoui was born in 1980 and took a degree in sound art and electroacoustic music at the national conservatory in Reims. He lives and works in Paris.
His practice begins with instruments he invents with other artists, composers and makers. They are engineered objects of glass, water and ceramics, played by touch, breath and motors, and they stand in the room as sculpture. He layers their sound with field recordings and computer-generated sound.
His work has been shown at dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel, at the Serpentine and at the 58th Venice Biennale. Tate holds his work in its collection.
The commission series grew from a partnership with Hyundai Motor launched in 2014 and now extended to 2036. Each year one artist is invited to make a new work for the Turbine Hall, and the first decade drew more than 19 million visitors.
On 16 and 17 October, Atoui plays inside the work with Emptyset, Mazen Kerbaj, Kenichi Iwasa and Aya Metwalli.