Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold Installation View, Tate Modern 2026. Photo © Tate (Yili Liu)
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold
Tate Modern today unveils a major new multisensory installation by artist and composer Tarek Atoui. Combining sculpture, performance, music, technology and social research, Atoui creates environments where sound is experienced not only through the ears, but through the whole body. Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold sees the artist transform the Turbine Hall into an immersive sonic landscape comprising custom-built wind instruments, percussion, electronics and sculptural objects, woven together to make an orchestra which connects the earth and sky. This living environment will constantly evolve throughout the run of the commission, with moments of live performance. Atoui's installation marks the 11th annual Hyundai Commission, made possible by the significant partnership between Tate and Hyundai Motor.
Hanging above the Turbine Hall ramp, a metal karnai (a ceremonial brass trumpet from Uzbekistan) is joined by two 3D-printed horns that echo and amplify the instrument’s elongated form. At the far end of the hall, drum skins, gongs, horns, and 20m long textiles are suspended among a network of bamboo and shengs (mouth organs from China and Southeast Asia), through which wind is channelled by a computer-controlled motor. In making the work, Atoui has responded to the extraordinary height, airflows and acoustic character of the Turbine Hall. Lithophone-like stones and warm lights invite visitors to sit, lie, gaze up, and attune themselves to the relationship between sound, materials, architecture and bodies. Drawing on the artist’s memories of gathering places, from vine-covered canopies to sheltered courtyards, Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold situates the Turbine Hall as a site for encounter and exchange.
Atoui’s installation is the culmination of over two decades of experimentation, including collaborations with musicians, instrument-makers, engineers and researchers across Asia and Europe. Drawing on these projects, he reimagines shengs, Korean drums, Uzbek horns and custom-built electronic systems. Continuing his longstanding interest in fusing experimental technologies with ancient instruments, the artist worked with architecture firm Arthur Mamou-Mani to create the 3D-printed horns from a composite material made with sugar resin and bamboo dust. He also worked with Satoshi Kondo, designer of ISSEY MIYAKE’s women’s line, who provided signature textiles used in the installation. Atoui coated the suspended textiles with conductive paint that transmits a low electric current to a synthesiser, generating shifting bass tones as they oscillate with the wind currents and humidity levels in the space. Microphones embedded within the installation sample the sounds produced by the instruments and the bustling backdrop of the Turbine Hall, with custom software developed by the artist working and playing them back as layers of the composition. Foregrounding the importance of improvisation in Atoui’s practice, these elements contribute to an ever-changing soundscape.
Throughout the six-month duration of Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold, the Turbine Hall will regularly become a site for live sound-based performances, where a network of musicians will ‘plug into’ or play within Atoui’s installation. The programme will platform both local and international musicians from-instrumentalists to electronic artists, collectives and labels – highlighting the work of Atoui’s longstanding collaborators and fostering new connections.
The annual Hyundai Commission is made possible by the long-term partnership between Tate and Hyundai Motor, launched in 2014 as the longest initial commitment from a corporate partner in Tate’s history. Announced last year, the extension of the partnership until 2036 underscores a shared, long-term commitment to artistic innovation and public access to contemporary art. Attracting over 21.6 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 – from Kara Walker’s spectacular fountain to Anicka Yi’s floating artificial lifeforms.
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold is in partnership with Hyundai Motor. Supported by the Tarek Atoui Supporters Circle and Tate Americas Foundation, with further support from Mamou Mani and FabPub for the production and fabrication of the 3D printed components and additional support from Meyer Sound for providing Intelligent DC products. The commission is curated by Nabila Abdel Nabi, Senior Curator, International Art (Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational), and Dina Akhmadeeva, Curator, International Art, produced by Nancy Cooper, Production Manager, Commissions. The performance programme is produced by Demelza Watts, Producer, Performance & Public Practice.
For press requests, email pressoffice@tate.org.uk. To download press images, visit Tate’s Dropbox.
Listings information
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold
13 October 2026 – 11 April 2027
Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG
Open daily 10.00–18.00, and until 21:00 every Friday and Saturday
Admission free
Visit www.tate.org.uk or follow @Tate
About Tarek Atoui
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 Hyundai Motor Company
Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is present in over 200 countries with more than 120,000 employees dedicated to tackling real-world mobility challenges around the globe. Based on the brand vision of ‘Progress for Humanity,’ Hyundai Motor is accelerating its transformation beyond mobility through advanced robotics and physical AI. The company invests in new technologies to bring about revolutionary solutions while pursuing open innovation to introduce future mobility services. In pursuit of a sustainable future for the world, Hyundai Motor will continue its commitment to carbon reduction as a full lineup provider with industry-leading ICE, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, hydrogen fuel cell and EV technologies. More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at: hyundai.com/worldwide/en/ or Newsroom: Media Hub by Hyundai.
About Hyundai Motor’s Art Projects
For over a decade, Hyundai Motor Company has deepened its partnerships with museums and cultural organizations worldwide, including Tate, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Hyundai Translocal Series is a new partnership initiative that roots itself in fostering dialogues and collaborations among art institutions in Korea and across the globe. Hyundai Motor’s own art initiatives include open-call programs such as the VH AWARD, the Hyundai Blue Prize+, and Artlab Editorial, a digital platform dedicated to art writing by transnational voices. These ongoing collaborations embrace the complexities of the cultural landscape by exploring new ideas and perspectives within and beyond the art ecosystem. For further information, visit artlab.hyundai.com or follow @hyundai.artlab #HyundaiArtlab.
Related events
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold: Live Programme
16 & 17 October, 13 & 27 November, 11 December, 15 January, 19 February, 19 March, 2 April; 19:00-20:30; Free A series of live sound-based performances will take place monthly on a Friday in the Turbine Hall throughout the run, with additional performances over the opening weekend and at the Tate Modern Late in November, turning Atoui’s installation into a sound system for musicians. The programme includes performances by musicians Shakeeb Abu Hamdan, Lydd Adib, Jad Atoui, Nicolas Becker, Elvin Brandhi, Gwilly Edmondez, Emptyset, Bendik Giske, Charbel Haber, Kenichi Iwasa, Mazen Kerbaj, Theodora Laird, Lexx, Li-Chin Li, Valentina Magaletti, Aya Metwalli, Phil Minton, Elaine Mitchener, Maggie Nichols, Nkisi, Dylan Nyoukis, Pike, Mhamad Safa and Saadet Türköz, with more to be announced. For further information, visit https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/tarek-atoui The performance on 11 December is organised in collaboration with the London Contemporary Music Festival. The performance on 15 January is organised in collaboration with YDP.
Tate Modern Late
27 November 2026, 18:00-22:00, Free Celebrate Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold with a free evening of DJs, workshops, film screenings and performances by Nkisi and Mhmad Safa as part of the commission’s wider live programme.
Audio Description Tours
18 November, 16 December, 20 January, 17 February and 17 March; 11.00–12.00; Free Blind and partially sighted visitors can join an audio-described tour of Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold, led by Tate Modern’s Visitor Experience team.
Related publications
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold
Published February 2027 Showcasing Tarek Atoui’s extraordinary new Hyundai Commission Hold for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, this book will include contributions by Daniel Blanga Gubbay, Nabila Abdel Nabi, Dina Akhmadeeva, and Tarek Atoui in collaboration with Goda Budvytytė and Rasa Juškevičiūtė.
The Turbine Hall: The First Ten Years of the Hyundai Commission Designed by Mark Thomson Limited run of 150 A limited edition publication and accompanying box set of 10 Hyundai Commission catalogues to celebrate the first decade of the Hyundai Commission and to look forward to the next 10 years. The publication features the voice of all 10 Hyundai Commission artists and contributions from past and present Tate directors and curators.