A one-of-a-kind artistic and research platform, The Listening Biennial began with the intention to shift attention toward listening as a poetic and philosophical tool of engagement. It was created to think about how we hear and respond to the world, and how sound can shape the way we relate to one another. This year, under the theme of Third Listening, it reflects on the idea of listening in the face of exclusion, of paying attention to difference, and of sustaining care and curiosity through sound. The Biennial looks at listening as a practice that exists between people, spaces, and times — something that requires patience and openness rather than control.
In Delhi, Khoj Studios is hosting the Biennial from October 9 to 14, with audio works curated by Alecia Neo, Brandon LaBelle, Soledad García Saavedra, and Suvani Suri. The programme brings together sound installations, performances, and workshops that animate the building through the week. Khoj treats its venue as part of the work, with its corridors, thresholds, and rooms influencing how sound travels and is experienced. The events respond to this architecture, to the social and physical spaces it holds, and to the people moving through it.
On Sunday, October 12, the Biennial is also hosting 'Synth Hang Playdate #2' — a full day in Delhi dedicated to play, exploration, and shared listening. From noon to 7 pm, Khoj’s nooks and corners will come alive with instruments, installations, and live performances. The Playdate is designed as an open encounter where visitors can move freely through the space, trying out instruments, and participating in workshops. There will be modular synth setups, field recorders, and sound tools to experiment with, as well as demonstrations that unpack different approaches to making with sound. Throughout the day, artists will introduce small interventions, improvisations, and sonic gestures, encouraging visitors to play around and discover their own relationship with sound.
Khoj Studios has long been known for supporting practices that fall between disciplines like art, sound, performance, and social experiment. The space has been a ground for residencies and collaborative projects that don’t fit conventional definitions. In the context of the Biennial, its architecture plays an active role. The surfaces, partitions, and acoustics of the building affect how sounds are produced and perceived. Synth Hang builds on this, turning the studio into a living sound field where visitors become part of the listening process.
The Biennial’s wider programme includes performances and workshops by artists working across diverse forms. Gitanjali Poluru presents 'Sculpture as Sound' on October 10 and 13, exploring the material and tactile dimensions of sound. Alexandra Cardenas performs a live-coding set on October 11, supported by the Goethe-Institut, engaging with generative systems and real-time sonic structure. On October 14, MycoDyke presents 'Akin – a ritual beneath, beside, beyond', a performance that works with ecological and embodied forms of listening. Hekh leads an exhibition walkthrough and book discussion on October 13, while 'shunyosthan / ghar da nakhsa | Track 0' unfolds on October 11 as a ritual performance created by a group of collaborators with Kaur Chimuk, a queer flexitarian majorly performing as a curatorial researcher.
Through these varied works and encounters, The Listening Biennial in Delhi becomes a reflection on attention and collectivity. Synth Hang Playdate #2 sits at its centre — By opening up tools, sounds, and methods to anyone who walks in, the event collapses the distance between artist and audience and offers a chance to join in, to test the limits of sound and space, and to experience listening as a way of thinking together.
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