Tarek Atoui

kurimanzutto invites you to a listening session of archival recordings of Arab classical music selected by Tarek Atoui (1980, Beirut, Lebanon).

Tarek Atoui is an artist and composer working within the realm of sound performance and composition. His work challenges traditional ways of perceiving sound and focuses on the medium’s ability to act as a catalyst for human interaction, while exploring its relation to current social, historical and political realities. Atoui’s work often revolves around large-scale, collaborative performances that stem from extensive research into music history and anthropology. He engineers complex and inventive instruments, arranges and curates concerts, performances, listening rooms and workshops. Atoui is also represented by Chantal Crousel in France and Vitamin Creative Space in China.

Tarek Atoui’s solo exhibitions include: Souffle Continu and Sunflowers, Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin, Ireland (2026); The Whispering House (Bayt Al Hams), commissioned by the Royal Commission for AlUla, Bayt Al Hams, AlUla, Saudi Arabia (2025); Tarek Atoui. At-Tāriq. Un viaje a las tradiciones musicales rurales del norte de África y del mundo árabe, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (2025); Tarek Atoui, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2024); the Shore / a place I’d like to be, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent, Belgium (2024); The Rain, Mirrored Garden, Guangzhou, China (2024); Standing Waves, Cukrarna Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia (2024); The Drift, Institut d’art contemporain (IAC), Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, France (2023); Tarek Atoui: The Whisperers, The Jones Center, The Contemporary Austin, Texas; traveled to The FLAG Art Foundation, New York (2022); Waters’ Witness, Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany; traveled to Serralves Foundation – Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal; and Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (2022); Cycles in 11, Sharjah Art Foundation, United Arab Emirates (2020); Organ Within, kurimanzutto, New York (2019); Resonance: Sound Art, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota (2019); among others.

His work has also been included in numerous international group exhibitions, including: Afrosonica – Soundscapes, Museum of Ethnography (MEG), Geneva, Switzerland (2025); For Children. Art Stories since 1968, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2025); Dissolving your ear plugs, Musée d’art de Joliette, Quebec, Canada (2023); Primary Forms, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland (2022); Darmstädter Ferienkurse, Darmstadt, Germany (2021); Resonance: A Sound Art Marathon, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota (2019); Inner Ear Vision: Sound as Medium, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska (2019); Infinite Ear, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2018); L'emprise des sens, Le Printemps de Septembre, Quai des arts, Cugnaux, France (2018); Soil and Stones, Souls and Songs, Para Site, Hong Kong (2017); GLOBALE: New Sensorium, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany (2016); Art or Sound, Fondazione Prada, Ca' Corner della Regina, Venice (2014); Festival Santiago A Mil, Santiago de Chile (2013); among others.

The artist has participated in diverse Biennals and Triennials such as: 61st Venice Biennale (2026); Sonic Acts Biennale, Amsterdam (2024); 14th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2023); 17th Istanbul Biennale (2022); Struer Tracks Biennial for Sound and Listening, Denmark (2021); 22nd Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2020); 58th Venice Biennale (2019); Marrakech Biennale 2016, Palais El Bahia, Morocco (2016); 8th Berlin Biennial (2014); Within, Sharjah Biennial 11, United Arab Emirates (2013); Intense Proximité, Triennale d'art contemporain, Paris (2012); dOCUMENTA 13, Kassel, Germany (2012); SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul (2011); Performa 11, New York (2011); the Sharjah Biennial 9 and 11, United Arab Emirates (2009 and 2013), among others.

Tarek Atoui currently lives and works in Paris.