Tarek Atoui | DIALOGS + MONO LOGS

Realized in occasion of Tarek Atoui’s solo show “Improvisation in 10 Days”, the catalogue “DIALOGS” is the result of a collaboration between Pirelli HangarBicocca, Kunsthaus Bregenz, S.M.A.K. Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent and Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes—all of which hosted exhibitions by Tarek Atoui between 2023 and 2025. It reflects the artist’s intention to contextualize these distinct projects, grouping them into a visual imagery that intersects views of the exhibitions, performances, studio work and creative process. These elements unfold in a visual narrative that is thoughtfully interwoven with a conversation between the artist and curator Ute Meta Bauer, offering insights into the core themes of Atoui’s practice.

Tarek Atoui’s multivalent practice moves between art and music, education and performance. At its heart are instruments that the artist has created with artisans and musicians in recent years. On the occasion of his exhibitions at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Kunsthaus Bregenz, S.M.A.K. Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent and Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, between 2023 and 2025, the set of three records “MONO LOGS” by Atoui is released. The LPs bring together sounds produced by a number of international musicians playing solos on the artist’s instruments in different contexts: in their respective studios, Atoui’s studio, and in the exhibition spaces of Kunsthaus Bregenz and kurimanzutto’s gallery. These records capture the life of the instruments and are also conceived as vinyls that DJs, turntablists and sound practitioners can sample and use.