Tarek Atoui will create a new site-specific work for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, with the support of Hyundai Motor Company.

Celebrated for his innovative performances and installations, Atoui explores and challenges traditional perceptions of sound. Drawing on extensive research into music history, instrumentation and production, he creates multisensory environments that rethink how we understand and experience sound.

Central to his practice is the invention of intricately engineered instruments, developed in collaboration with other artists, composers and makers. These instruments often function as both musical devices and sculptural objects, incorporating organic elements such as glass, water and ceramics. Custom-made and imaginatively rethought, they are activated through touch, breath and motors, inviting audiences to engage with sound through physical and sensory experience.

Atoui combines the music generated by these instruments with environmental recordings from different geographical locations and computer-generated sounds, creating immersive installations and collaborative performances. Expanding the idea of sound beyond hearing, his work explores how listening can be experienced through multiple senses, including tactile and visual forms of perception.

This approach is closely connected to Atoui’s interest in architecture and the ways in which sound and vibration interact with physical space. Catherine Wood, Interim Director of Tate Modern, said: “Tarek Atoui has captivated audiences internationally with his boundary-pushing approach to sound. Blending music, technology, sculpture and performance, he is a truly cross-disciplinary artist whose work references current social, historical and political realities. Architectural space plays an important role in Atoui’s ongoing investigation into sound and vibration, and we can’t wait to see how he engages with audiences within the public space of Tate Modern's iconic Turbine Hall.”

Learn more