Tarek Atoui's exhibition "Souffle Continu" at IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) transforms the museum's Baroque chapel into an experimental performance space. The centerpiece is "Organ Within" (2022), a sprawling deconstructed organ made of electrical air blowers, flutes, and serpentine tubes that produces animalistic and machinic sounds. A second installation, "Sunflowers," features smaller electroacoustic contrivances including drum skins, cymbals, and water containers that respond to ambient shifts. Atoui's work explores nonauditory sonic phenomena, building on his 2012 workshop with deaf students in Sharjah.
This exhibition matters because Atoui represents a growing movement of artists who merge sculpture, music, and sensory experience to challenge traditional boundaries between visual art and sound. His inclusive approach, developed through work with deaf communities, expands how audiences perceive and interact with art, emphasizing vibration and tactility over purely visual or auditory engagement. The show underscores contemporary art's increasing interest in multisensory, participatory experiences that question conventional definitions of musical instruments and artistic mediums.