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Art & Design Hyundai Motor and Tate Announce the Opening of Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold
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Art & Design Hyundai Motor and Tate Announce the Opening of Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold
SEOUL/LONDON, October 12, 2026 – Hyundai Motor Company and Tate Modern announce the opening of Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold, 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. For his Hyundai Commission, he has transformed Tate Modern’s 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. Through participation and performance, this living environment will constantly evolve throughout the run of the commission.
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold marks the 11th annual Hyundai Commission and inaugurates the next decade of the Hyundai Motor and Tate partnership extending through 2036. Established in 2014, the partnership represents the longest initial commitment from a corporate partner in Tate's history, encompassing the Hyundai Commission and, since 2019, the Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational.
Atoui's Hyundai Commission 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.
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, stones and 20m long textiles are suspended among a network of bamboo and shengs (mouth organs from China and Southeast Asia), through which wind is channeled 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.
Microphones embedded within the installation sample the sounds produced by the instruments and the bustling backdrop of the Turbine Hall, with custom software reworking 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 the Hyundai Commission, the Turbine Hall will regularly become a site for live sound-based performances, where a network of musicians will 'plug into' Atoui's installation as a sound system. The program 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.
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold creates new forms of connection through sound, bringing together diverse cultures and communities. Through his multisensory and collaborative practice, Atoui invites meaningful exchange and collective reflection on our contemporary world.
Art Director, Hyundai Motor Company
The annual Hyundai Commission has attracted over 21.6 million visitors and established a platform for 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. By extending the partnership until 2036, Hyundai Motor and Tate reaffirm their shared, long-term commitment to artistic innovation and public access to contemporary art.
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold
October 13, 2026 – April 11, 2027, Tate Modern
In partnership with Hyundai Motor
**All images must be accompanied by a credit line below and used only to illustrate an article or feature reviewing or reporting on the Hyundai Commission and the partnership between Hyundai Motor and Tate. Any form of treatment and use of images for front covers may attract a fee and will require prior authorization from the owner and copyright holder of the work. Please contact Tate Press Office for such use: pressoffice@tate.org.uk
Image Credit:
Image #: Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui: Hold, Installation View at Tate Modern. Photo © Tate (Name)
Image #: Hyundai Commission artist Tarek Atoui at Tate Modern. Photo © Tate (Name)
Jiwon Moon
m00n@hyundai.com
Global PR Team 1 · Hyundai Motor Company
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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’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.
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.
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