Tate Modern · Bankside
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui
The 11th annual Hyundai Commission fills the Turbine Hall with a site-specific installation by artist and composer Tarek Atoui, blending music, technology, sculpture and performance into multisensory environments.
Preview: written before the show opened
In a Paris studio, Tarek Atoui has built about five per cent of this commission at full scale. Every week friends come over to improvise on it, sit inside it and have drinks. In a June 2026 interview with Tate Etc. he said he still didn't know exactly what the finished work would look like.
Atoui, born in Beirut in 1980, is a composer who builds his own instruments with other makers, often from glass, water and ceramics, played by touch, breath or motors, and mixes them with field recordings and computer sound. Tate says musicians will perform inside the installation throughout the six months, using it as a sound system or a set of instruments. The first sessions pair him with Emptyset, Mazen Kerbaj, Kenichi Iwasa and Aya Metwalli.
It's free and in the Turbine Hall, and Tate Modern stays open until 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. For performances, Tate warns the hall is cold and the volume varies, and lends ear defenders.
Editor's pick
Atoui builds his own instruments and works in sound rather than objects, so his Turbine Hall commission is something you hear before you see it.
Look for
The live sessions
Musicians improvise inside the installation across its run; you can sit on the floor cushions or come and go.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Evening Visits
- First-Timers
- Rainy Days
