Internationally acclaimed artist and composer Tarek Atoui brings his sound art to Helsinki
The “Saastamoinen Keynote in Arts” lecture series, produced in collaboration between Saastamoinen Foundation and Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts, brings sound artist and composer Tarek Atoui to Finland. This will be the ninth lecture in the popular series, which invites internationally significant figures from the art world to speak in Finland. The series aims to promote dialogue between visual arts education and the international art community. The lecture is open to everyone and will be held on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, starting at 5 PM at Dance House Helsinki, Cable Factory.
Lebanese-born Tarek Atoui (b. 1980) is an internationally renowned sound artist and composer whose experimental work redefines the role of sound in contemporary art. He collaborates with scientists, instrument makers, and people with diverse sensory experiences to create participatory soundscapes and new modes of listening. His works have been exhibited in major art institutions and biennials, including Tate Modern and the Venice Biennale.
In his keynote lecture, Atoui will provide a broad overview of improvisation – not only as spontaneous performance but as a method that shapes his approach to composition, instrument building, and exhibition-making. According to Atoui, improvisation is a collective, open-ended process that evolves over time and in relation to others: musicians, audiences, communities, and even institutions. In his lecture, he will explore how this way of thinking is reflected in his performances and participatory projects such as Within and The Ground, in which instruments are not fixed tools but evolving interfaces often developed in collaboration with others, including deaf and hard-of-hearing participants.
Extending this notion into the curatorial and spatial realm, Atoui will also speak about his recent exhibition at Pirelli Hangar Bicocca in Milan. There, improvisation is not confined to the moment of performance; it becomes a methodology for constructing the exhibition itself. Works are activated over time, the installation responds to changes in acoustic and social context, and visitors are invited to experience the exhibition as an unfolding, participatory process. The show functions less as a static display and more as a living score – one that embraces chance, adaptation, and continuous becoming.
Through a combination of sound excerpts, visual documentation, and personal insights, Atoui will share how improvisation underpins his artistic vision – not only in how sound is made and performed, but in how spaces are inhabited, how exhibitions are lived, and how art invites new modes of sensing and being together.
The visit to Helsinki is part of a programme launched by Saastamoinen Foundation and the Academy of Fine Arts in 2015 to promote international dialogue and opportunities for young artists in the visual arts field in Finland. The Saastamoinen Foundation Keynote in Arts lecture is held annually, inviting internationally significant and pioneering figures to Finland. In addition to the lecture, Atoui will meet students, alumni, and members of the Finnish art scene during his visit.
In 2024, the programme brought Canadian media artist Stan Douglas to Finland, who gave a lecture titled The Black Mirror or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Photography. Previous speakers have included Italian philosopher Emanuele Coccia; British artist and professor Dame Sonia Boyce DBE, RA; Argentine art historian, curator, and professor Andrea Giunta, known especially for her expertise in Latin American art, feminism, and political representation; American feminist and socially critical artist Martha Rosler; Polish curator and art critic Adam Szymczyk, renowned for being the artistic director of Documenta 14 in 2017; and the Danish-Norwegian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset. The very first lecturer in the series was Nigerian Okwui Enwezor (1963–2019), a pioneering curator and thinker who was instrumental in opening the Western art world to the Global South and postcolonial discourse.
Read more: International networks in fine arts
About the artist
Lebanese-born Tarek Atoui (b. 1980) is an internationally renowned sound artist and composer whose experimental work redefines the role of sound in contemporary art. Currently, his exhibition Improvisation in 10 Days is on view in Milan, Italy, in Pirelli HangarBicocca. He has held exhibitions at numerous prominent institutions, including TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary in Madrid (2025), Tate Modern in London (2016) and Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris (2014 and 2015). His notable group exhibitions include the Venice Biennale in 2019 and documenta in 2021. His works are included in prestigious collections such as: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), Pinault Collection (Paris), Tate Modern (London) and LUMA Foundation (Zurich).