you hear it the whole time wherever you stand
you get closer and it feels like you’re merging with it
you feel it inside your body and you can see it outside—
the banging of the iron wall by hands and stones […]
Teo tells me I should get closer to the wall
I must go there to measure the volume of our resistance […]
“the sound of our nervous system,” someone says
perhaps also an electrode through which our power transmits
this wall must fall
entirely.
—Still frame and text from the sound of our nervous system by Marika Kochiashvili, 2024
measuring the sounds of our resistance
A screening, listening session, and open dialogue hosted by Levani
Date: Saturday, April 12, 2025
Time: 3:00–6:00 pm
Event Schedule:
3–3:30 pm: Screening of two films:
a spell [xvi. the tower], 2023 by Levani
the sound of our nervous system, 2024 by Marika Kochiashvili
3:30–4:00 pm: Listening session: what is your form?, 2025 (in progress) by Levani
4:00–5:00 pm: Open dialogue moderated by Levani and Lila Nazemian
5:00–6:00 pm: Public reception
Join us in the gallery for measuring the sounds of our resistance, a screening and listening session hosted by artist Levani as part of their participation in The Bride Has Gone To Pick Flowers, a group exhibition at CUE curated by Lila Nazemian with mentorship from Martha Joseph. The event will begin with a screening of two short films: a spell [xvi. the tower] by Levani and the sounds of our resistance by artist Marika Kochiashvili, whose sound recording of the ongoing protests in Tbilisi is also present in the show as part of Levani’s the altar. Following the screening, Levani will host a listening session of what is your form?, their new audio work in progress. Presented with accompanying visuals, the work ruminates on the commonalities between the self-regulated immune systems of the human body and resistance movements worldwide.
We will conclude with an open dialogue moderated by Levani and Lila Nazemian, inviting guests to reflect upon the meaning(s) of resistance—drawing from our individual and collective stories of communal struggle across the globe. The event seeks to cultivate deeper bonds and allow us to together develop a shared understanding of resistance as an embodied practice.
To accompany the afternoon, a special limited edition tote bag by QEDI (Democratic Initiative of Georgian Emigrants)—a volunteer collective of friends of the Georgian diaspora in the U.S. that includes Levani—is available to order. Proceeds will be donated to the student resistance movement in the artist’s home country of Georgia.
The event is free, and all are welcome. Guests are invited to come and go as they please for any particular part of the event. There will be pillows and chairs provided to facilitate a meditative viewing and listening experience. Refreshments will be served, including wine courtesy of Chama Mama, and RSVP is encouraged.
Levani, the altar, 2025. Photo by Leo Ng.
About the Artists
Levani is a Georgian-born transdisciplinary artist creating immersive installations rooted in contemporary science, queer ecology, and spirituality. Ze hold an MFA from IUNA Buenos Aires and a BFA from the Tbilisi Academy of Arts. Levani has exhibited extensively at venues and institutions such as Artists Alliance Inc., the Georgian National Museum, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Tbilisi Kunsthalle, Socrates Sculpture Park, the Beijing Biennial, and the BRIC Biennial, among others.
Levani is a recipient of residencies, awards, and grants that include: the LES Studio Program at Artists Alliance Inc.; the Annual Fellowship at Socrates Sculpture Park; the Peter S Reed Foundation Grant; the NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program; the Creative Time X Summit Grant; the AIM Fellowship at the Bronx Museum of the Arts; the NARS Foundation Studio Residency; and an award from the National Endowments for the Arts. Levani’s work has been featured in Frieze, Art in America, The Brooklyn Rail, BOMB, ArtAsia Pacific, Art Papers, Hyperallergic, The Art Newspaper, and more.
Marika Kochiashvili is a Tbilisi-born, London-based visual artist working in a range of media, including photography, sculpture, video, and illustration. Marika’s work is informed by religious conservatism and how it has shaped representations of female sexuality in the South Caucasus. Marika studied Media and Communication Management at GIPA (Georgia) and Digital Journalism at Goldsmiths University (London). Her work has been exhibited at The Depot (London), Thessaloniki Queer Art Festival, Tbilisi Photo Festival; The Photocopy Club (London), No Human Art Week (Aachen), Fungus Gallery (Tbilisi), and Georgian National Gallery (Tbilisi). among others, She was awarded a grant from the Arts Council England’s DYCP (Develop Your Creative Practice) program.
About the Curator
Lila Nazemian (she/her) is an independent curator and serves as Programs Director at ArteEast in New York. In 2022, she joined the Brooklyn-based Transmitter gallery as a co-director. Her research and curatorial practice are focused on reimagining approaches to histories from the Middle East, Southwest Asia / North Africa (SWANA), and Central Asia regions in an effort to counter narrative revisionism and collective amnesia. Recent curatorial projects include: Conjuring Flames at Arsenal Contemporary, New York (2023); Now That We Have Established A Common Ground as part of Protocinema’s Emerging Curator Series, (2022); A Few In Many Places with Protocinema on Governors Island, New York (2021); I open my eyes and see myself under a tree laden with fruit that I cannot name at Center for Book Arts, New York (2020); On Echoes of Invisible Hearts: Image Making and Popular Archiving in Times of Unrest at Station Beirut (2019); On Echoes of Invisible Hearts: Narratives of Yemeni Displacement at Poetry Project, Berlin (2018); and Spheres of Influence at Mohsen Gallery, Tehran (2016). In 2017, she was the U.S. Projects Director at CULTURUNNERS, where, on behalf of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), she managed an artist residency in New York and supported various American museums in producing exhibitions of Saudi art. Prior to this, she was a Curatorial Associate at Leila Heller Gallery in New York.
About the Mentor
Martha Joseph is a curator and writer specializing in contemporary art, sound, and performance. At the Museum of Modern Art, she is part of the curatorial team for The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio, MoMA's space for performance and time-based art. She has organized exhibitions, commissions, and performances with artists that include Sable Elyse Smith, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Yve Laris Cohen, Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Guadalupe Maravilla, and David Tudor and Composers Inside Electronics Inc. With Ana Janevski and Thomas (T.) Jean Lax, she co-organized Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done in 2018. Joseph’s writing has appeared in publications by the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Bonner Kunstverein, and MoMA as well as Flash Art and Frieze Magazine. Before joining MoMA, she held curatorial positions at The Whitney and The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). She received a Masters degree in the History of Art from Williams College; a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Oberlin College; and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Oberlin Conservatory.
Support
Wine for the program is supported by a donation from Chama Mama.