Listening Session
Blessed and blushing, Dan Bodan, Keta Gavasheli
Thursday, September 24, 2026
7 to 10 pm

For one evening, mumok's Level -2 turns into a stage for experimental music. Sound moving between memory and presence, between tape, voice, and AI-generated sample, between euphoria and melancholy – layered, imperfect, at times fragmented, at times driving. Music to sit or lie down to, as much as to listen to closely and actively.

The Listening Session takes place within Tolia Astakhishvili's exhibition Figure of the Child, within the hosting structures the artist has built for the space. Artists whose work extends Astakhishvili's world in their own way invite you into a close and focused act of listening.

Programme

First Utter is a hybrid set / performance by Keta Gavasheli built from cassette recordings, voice, movement, and acoustic guitar, exploring motherhood, distance, dialogue, and the unstable space between memory and voice. It grows out of an ongoing exchange with the artist's mother, who lives in Georgia – a long-distance reading practice in which they read and translate texts on motherhood over the phone. Fragments from Mina Loy's Parturition, Bernadette Mayer's Midwinter Day, and Clarice Lispector's Água Viva enter this sonic space alongside field recordings, everyday sounds, and acoustic guitar.

Based in Paris, Blessed and blushing is a multidisciplinary artist. He samples exclusively from audio material generated through artificial intelligence programs, and is a pioneer of this practice. His work explores loop-based hip-hop infused with nostalgic pop and dance elements, with vocals that flirt with the uncanny valley. It evokes a sense of false nostalgia: sounds that recall familiar songs, yet are always tinted with an AI-driven sense of dissonance.

Dan Bodan is a musical project from Berlin, best known for his pop music releases on DFA Records. Beyond his solo work, he has frequently crossed into the contemporary art world, composing chamber music and film scores and collaborating with visual artists on multimedia projects across Europe. At mumok, he will play songs from his forthcoming album Dog Album (Plot Toy, out fall 2026).

More information on Tolia Astakhishvili, Figure of the Child.

Photo: Philipp Zöhrer