Collaborative Listening Research Séances
June–August 2025, Galerie 35M2
In three closed sessions, the five approached female musicians and the team of Gallery 35M2 explored how listening and sound shape women’s expression, relationship to voice and body, both on a personal and social level.
The programme was based on the principles of sonic autobiography, the Encouragements exercise inspired by the artistic practice of Anna Raimondo, and the feminist manifesto The Laugh of the Medusa (1975) by Hélène Cixous, which was the initiating text for the curators’ forthcoming exhibition, Echoes of the Medusa.
Feminist Ear was created as a safe space for sharing, listening and creating within a small group of participants: Johuš Matuš, New Magic Media, Amelie Siba, timmi, Klara Wodehn
koncepce programu: Anežka Januschka Kořínková a Pamela
Feminist Ear #1
Zvuková autobiografie: naslouchat sobě navzájem / Sonic Autobiography: Listening to Each Other
The opening session of the Feminist Ear series was dedicated to getting to know each other and to a group listening session inspired by the sonic autobiography method. Participants reflected on their current relationship with music and shared stories of how their inspirations have changed over time and what music triggers memories that still resonate deeply with them.
Here, music functioned as a tool for storytelling, self-reflection and mutual understanding. Individual selections of songs and sounds became vehicles for sharing personal experiences and deepening mutual listening. The séance created a space where a voice could emerge through sound and laid the foundations of trust, which was built upon in the following sessions.
playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2HnvQZXFWIgjGOI0s064xk
📸 pamela
Feminist Ear #2
Encouragements: ženská síla skrze hlas a sdílení / Encouragements: Female Power Through Voice and Sharing
The second session was inspired by the Encouragements exercise by artist Anna Raimondo. Together we dove into voice work, building confidence and finding ways to deepen mutual support through sound and words.
At the center stood a shared experience – working with our own voices and the voices of those who accompany us. Each of us compiled a personal list of women who had been her support and asked them for encouragement: sentences, advice, echoes of words they themselves had once received. We read these words to each other, embraced them, let them resonate in space and in our bodies.
playlist: encouragements.pdf
📸 Nika Schnitzerová
Feminist Ear #3
Smích Medúzy: poslech jako manifest / The Laugh of the Medusa: Listening as a Manifesto
The final session of the Feminist Ear series focused on reading and reflecting on the text The Laugh of the Medusa (1975) by Hélène Cixous. This key feminist manifesto, deeply rooted in the corporeality, language and voice of women, became the starting point for the collective playlist and the subsequent exhibition Echoes of the Medusa.
Participants worked with curated passages of the text and added more fragments. The ones that appealed to them and the ones that caused a contradiction. The joint evaluation opened a debate on the development of feminist language from the 1970s to the present. It showed that many of the concepts Cixous works with are now seen in a broader way, and can be articulated in a new language that reflects the complexity of contemporary identities and experiences.
The meeting involved sharing the songs, associations and images that the reading evoked.
playlist: tba
📸everyone
The project is realised with the financial support of the Capital City of Prague, the Prague 3 Municipal District, the Ministry of Culture and the State Culture Fund of the Czech Republic. Thank you for your support.