Sound Artist Tarek Atoui Selected for Next Turbine Hall Commission at Tate Modern

Artist Tarek Atoui has been selected as the next artist to take on the Hyundai Commission in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. His exhibition at the London museum will open on October 13 and run into April 2027. Tate Modern international art curators Nabila Abdel Nabi and Dina Akhmadeeva will curate the commission.

The Beirut-born, Paris-based artist is known for creating complex installations featuring specially designed instruments that are often made in collaboration with other artists, composers, or makers. These objects typically incorporate glass, water, or ceramics and are activated by touch, breath, or motors. To create these installations, Atoui does deep research into music histories from around the world.  

He has been the subject of solo exhibitions at S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Luma Westbau in Zurich, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in Sydney, and Art Sonje Center in Seoul. He won the Suzanne Deal Booth/FLAG Art Foundation Prize in 2022. His work has been featured in major exhibitions like the 2023 and 2021 editions of the Gwangju Biennale, the 2022 Istanbul Biennale, the 2020 Sydney Biennale, the 2019 Venice Biennale, the 2014 Berlin Biennale, and the 2020 exhibition “Reverb: Sound Into Art” at the Hayward Gallery in London.

“Tarek Atoui has captivated audiences internationally with his boundary-pushing approach to sound,” Tate Modern interim director Catherine Wood said in a statement. “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.”

Since 2000, Tate Modern has commissioned a new work for its Turbine Hall space. Hyundai Motor Company has been the exhibition’s sponsor since 2014 and last year extended its support for the program until 2036. Recent artists to take on the commission are Mire Lee (2024), El Anatsui (2023), Cecilia Vicuña (2022), Anicka Yi (2021), and Kara Walker (2019); Máret Ánne Sara’s 2025 commission is on view until April 12.