Tarek Atoui. Improvisation in 10 Days
The exhibition is an ever-changing soundscape that triggers dynamic relationships between space, works and people.
ReadTarek Atoui (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
Tarek Atoui (b. 1980, Beirut, Lebanon; lives and works in Paris)
is an electro-acoustic artist and composer investigating
the intersection between visual and sound research through installations, complex sonic environments, and collaborative performances.
Activation of the exhibition “Improvisation in 10 Days” with Tarek Atoui and Seo In Seok (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
Atoui explores sound and its perception combining computers and synthesizers with organic elements such as water, air, stone, and wood, to build instruments with innovative musical and visual qualities.
Activation of the exhibition “Improvisation in 10 Days” with Tarek Atoui and Seo In Seok (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
His performances are characterized by the overlapping of acoustic layers, stemming from recordings of urban and industrial settings and sounds of instruments conceived by the artist in collaboration with artisans and musicians.
“Improvisation in 10 Days” (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
The exhibition “Improvisation in 10 Days” is a homage to improvisation. The title borrows a specific term from musical lexicon to underscore the experimental and transformative approach that characterizes the
project.
“Improvisation in 10 Days” (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
The show reimagines three groups of works—Souffle Continu, Waters’ Witness, and The Rain — and their readaptation, conceived by the artist over 10 days.
“Improvisation in 10 Days” (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
The Souffle Continu (2022–24) group of works comprises objects that use the passage of air to produce sound and vibration. The intention of the artist is to introduce the audience to a sonic experience based not so much on a physical, visual, and gestural perception.
Souffle Continu include Organ Within, Reedboxes e Wind House #1 e #2.
Organ Within (detail) (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
In Organ Within (2022) air, channeled in pipes spread out like tentacles on the ground, produces amplified vibrations that generate low frequencies, perceptible also as physical sensations.
“Improvisation in 10 Days” (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
Reedboxes (2022–24) are small instruments shaped like wooden boxes assembled using materials with different acoustic properties that produce melodies.
Wind House (#2) (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
Wind House #1 (2023–24) and #2 (2024) are sound rooms that visitors are invited to enter. The devices that emit the sounds consist of side openings that slide vertically, allowing different tones to be obtained.
“Improvisation in 10 Days” (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
The Rain (2023–24) explores multiple ways of producing sound using the four elements: water, air, earth, and fire.
The Rain (detail) (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
The project also stems from an in-depth study of the techniques
involved when crafting musical instruments, made from ceramic, porcelain, and traditional Korean hanji paper.
Waters' Witness (detail) (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
Waters’ Witness (2020–23) is a sound research project focusing on the theme of water. The installation consists of sculptural and sonic elements using different materials such as marble, metal, and ceramics.
Waters' Witness (detail) (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
The work collects sounds of the sea recorded in coastal cities, combined with the noise of dripping water, used by the artist as a sonic element inside the sculptures.
“Improvisation in 10 Days” (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
Tarek Atoui has exhibited his work at many leading institutions, including Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Madrid (the exhibition will open on February 18, 2025); Kunsthaus, Bregenz, S.M.A.K., Ghent (2024); Art Sonje Center, Seoul;
The Rain (detail) (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
Museum of Contemporary Art MCA, Sydney, Institut d’art contemporain – Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes (2023); The Contemporary Austin, Texas, FLAG Art Foundation, New York, Museo Serralves, Porto, MUDAM, Luxembourg (2022); Fridericianum, Kassel (2020);
Waters' Witness (detail) (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels (2017); Bergen Assembly (2016); Berkeley Art Museum, Pacific Film Archive (2015); Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2014).
Waters' Witness (detail) (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
Atoui presented his performances at Sharjah Art Foundation (2020); Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana – Fondazione Pinault, Venice (2019); Para Site, Hong Kong; Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2017); Tate Modern, London (2016);
The Rain (detail) (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
Serpentine Gallery, London (2012); Performa 11, New York (2011). His major group exhibitions include: Taipei Biennial (2023); Istanbul Biennial (2022); Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Paris, Gwangju Biennial (2021);
Serpentine Gallery, London (2012); Performa 11, New York (2011). His major group exhibitions include: Taipei Biennial (2023); Istanbul Biennial (2022); Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Paris, Gwangju Biennial (2021);
The Rain (detail) (2025) by Tarek AtouiPirelli HangarBicocca
the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Venice Biennale, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2019); Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2018); Fondazione Prada, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice (2014); documenta, Kassel (2012); New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York,
