Alifiyah Imani is a sound artist and writer based in Berlin, originally from Karachi, Pakistan. In her practice, she interrelates sonic experiences through different media and forms, including sensory listening rituals, experimental installations, electroacoustic pieces, and radio collaborations. She attempts to locate sound as lived experience, exploring the possibilities of relational listening through intimacy and encounter. Since 2020, she has actively engaged in participatory group settings to explore how the ear, breath, gesture, gaze, and movement are connected and alter the way we relate to ourselves and one another. As a listener, she draws immense inspiration from the sonic phenomenon of drones and explores presence-training methods of embodiment and metaphysical traditions, with a special interest in the Rasa aesthetics of Bharatanatyam and the voice culture surrounding Dhrupad music.
Imani is a half-duo member of the artist collective Sono Sensing, which was formed in 2020 as a radiophonic project. More recently, the artistic practice involves building sound objects and DIY instruments from repurposed abandoned materials and electronic waste found on the streets. Recent exhibitions include the solo shows “Before the Rāga Comes the Drone” (2024) for Errant Sound (Berlin), “Your Listening is a Paracosm” (2023) for distant.gallery (Berlin edition), “Is it alive” (2023) for the NEW NOW Festival (Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage, Essen), and the group exhibition “Ich spüre was, was du nicht spürst” (2022) at HilbertRaum (Berlin).
Imani holds a joint Master of Arts degree in Media Arts Cultures from three European consortium partners: Danube University (Austria), Aalborg University (Denmark), and the University of Łódź (Poland). She is currently hosted by Errant Sound following her selection as a Weltoffenes Berlin fellow (2024).
SOLO EXHIBITIONS, RADIO WORKS
Before the Rāga Comes the Drone
Errant Sound
Multichannel installation
Berlin / February 2024
Your Listening is a Paracosm
distant.gallery, Cashmere Radio
Solo show on the artist-run platform common.garden, Long form radio piece
Berlin / June 2023
Combs Deep
Tremella Radio
Electroacoustic ambient longform piece
Copenhagen / August 2021
EXHIBITIONS, COLLABORATIVE WORKS & PERFORMANCES
FORM(ING) MATTER (OF) SOUND
Concrete Dreams of Sound at daadgalerie
Sound sculptures w/ Carmen Arias, Shu Ching Chon, Julianne Chua, Frank Furto, Olha Havrylenko, Alifiyah Imani, Daeun Joo, Valentin Lux, Three Amps, Varojuan Chetirian
Facilitated and curated by: Samuel Perea-Díaz & Jona Wolf
Berlin / May 2024
Hypernatural Forces (ThinkHalle)
New Now Festival at Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage
Sound Installation w/ Sono Sensing Collective (Alifiyah Imani & Vladimir Razhev)
Essen/ June 2023
Finissage | Berlin, February 2023
Pandora Art Gallery
Sound Installation w/ Sono Sensing (Alifiyah Imani & Vladimir Razhev)
Curated by Guinchi
Berlin / February 2023
Ich spüre was, was du nicht spürst
HilbertRaum
Sound Installation w/ Sono Sensing Collective (Alifiyah Imani & Vladimir Razhev)
Curated by Rhizome Laboratory (Stephanie Fenner & Miguel Canal)
Berlin / November 2022
Diasporic Listening to Berlin’s Soundscape
Cashmere Radio in collaboration with Artist Pilots
Radio Piece w/ Abeer Ali, Alifiyah Imani, Izul Kim, Anton Filatov & Falso Conejo
Curated by Yara Mekawei
Berlin / November 2022
Sonic Rituals Vol II.
Refuge Worldwide
Radio Piece w/ Ana Amorós López, Alifiyah Imani, Eva Isolde Balzer,
Cornelia Turner, Rahema Zaheer, Izul Kim & Stephanie Fenner
Berlin / December 2022
Sonic Rituals Vol I.
Refuge Worldwide
Radio Piece w/ Ana Amorós López, Alifiyah Imani, Andrée Burelli,
Cecelia Pez, Rahema Zaheer, Cornelia & Maria Heller.
Berlin / August 2022
The Space Between Voice and Gesture
ACUD, Berlin School of Sound
Performance w/ Maria Heller, Rozenn Lièvre, Luisa Spina, Alifiyah Imani, Alba Fieira
& Andrea W
Curated by Alessandra Eramo
Berlin / May 2022
For Pannonian Skies
Tremella Radio
Radio Piece w/ Sono Sensing Collective (Alifiyah Imani & Vladimir Razhev)
Copenhagen / August 2021
On Amager Fælled
Tremella Radio
Radio Piece w/ Sono Sensing Collective (Alifiyah Imani & Vladimir Razhev)
Copenhagen / June 2021
Faculty of Senses
Ilutron
Performance w/ Martin Bollerup, Jens Erik Larsen, Eduardo Abrantes, Alifiyah Imani, Knulp, Rittmeyer, Jørgen Teller, Sixten Elliot Teller Kallmoes, Maria Nadia Nielsen, Matt Choboter & Alexandra Carlgren
Curated by Faculty of Senses and Yuri Landman
Copenhagen / October 2020
When Wor(l)ds Collide
Machine Dialects: Speculating the Imaginary
Aalborg University Copenhagen
Audiovisual Installation w/ Magda Hamdy & Uğur Kaya
Curated by Morten Søndergaard and Media AC 2017 Cohort
Copenhagen/ May 2018
Journey through sound
Platform 4
Musique concrète composition
Curated by Palle Dahlstedt
Aalborg / March 2018
Dil Phaink
Alchemy Festival at Southbank Centre
Audiovisual Installation
Curated by PeaceNiche (T2F)
London / May 2015
Desert Roses
Alliance Française de Karachi
Photography works on Tharparkar Desert
Curated by Green Crescent Trust (Saad Zuberi)
Karachi / Feb-March 2015
WORKSHOPS & RESIDENCIES
FORM(ING) MATTER (OF) SOUND
Concrete Dreams of Sound w/ Samuel Perea-Díaz & Jona Wolf
daadgalerie, Berlin / May 2024
Labyrinth Catalunya
Dhrupad Singing and Indian Classical Music w/ Pelva Naik
Cardedeau, Spain / April 2024
Dhrupad
Dhrupad w/ Pelva Naik
Berlin/India (ongoing)
Lab of Intelligence Culture
Bassano Romano, Pianamola
Exploration of Being - lab residency
Rome / July 2023
NAVARASA - Rasa Training (2 & 3)
Baerwaldstudio
Rasa aesthetics of Bharatanatyam w/ Eva Isolde Balzer
Berlin / April - December 2023
Carnatic Singing
Global Music Academy
Karnatische Musik w/ Manickam Yogeswaran
Berlin / November 2022 - July 2023
NAVARASA - Rasa Training (1)
Baerwaldstudio
Rasa aesthetics of Bharatanatyam w/ Eva Isolde Balzer
Berlin / September - December 2022
(A) TEMPORAL MOVEMENT
Savvy Contemporary
Movement Workshop w/ Regina Lomio, Amna Mawaz,
and Venuri Perera
Berlin / October 2022
Artist Pilots
Radio workshop
w/ Yara Mekawei and Cashmere Radio
Berlin / October 2022
Creative Studios Berlin
Radio workshop
w/ Refuge Worldwide
Berlin / June - July 2022
The Space Between Voice and Gesture
Voice workshop at ACUD, Berlin School of Sound
w/ Alessandra Eramo
Berlin / May 2022
Faculty of Senses - Instrument Building Workshop
Refshaleøen, København
w/ Yuri Landman
Copenhagen / October 2020
Spatial Sound Institute, 4DSOUND
6 months research residency
MA Thesis - Auditory Subcultures and Sonic Flights: In Between Sound and Space
Budapest / February - August 2019
Refshaleøen - Teaterøen (Theatre Island)
MediaAC research residency for the exhibition “Machine Dialects: Speculating the Imaginary”
Copenhagen / May 2018
CURATORIAL WORKS
Berlin Art Prize | Berlin, May 2018
Curator of Suppose that Rome is not a human habitation by Bassem Saad, Peles Empire NightVision by artist duo Mazenett Quiroga, LAGE EGAL [Kimgo]
Spatial Sound Institute | Budapest, 2019 - 2021
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Sound Pedagogy and Sound-based Education Artist Residency Curatorial Framework w/ Paul Oomen
Borders of (im)materiality | Łódź , Poland, 2019
Co-curator of Listening through the noise in collaboration with Adrienn Lestyán & Magda Hamdy
Studio Tomás Saraceno | Berlin, 2018
Research and curatorial support for ON AIR Carte Blanche to Tomás Saraceno for Palais De Tokyo (Paris)
RETRACE | Austria, 2018
RETRACE: 7th International Conference for Histories of Media Art, Science Documentation and Dissemination team in collaboration with Danube University
Lahore Music Meet | Lahore, 2017
Co-curator of audiovisual exhibition Rang Saazi, Al-Hamra Arts Council in collaboration with Azka Shahid
The School of Writing | Karachi, 2016
Co-curator of film and photography exhibition Yeh Hai Karachi Al-Hamra, Arts Council in collaboration with PeaceNiche (T2F) Collective
Alchemy Festival, Southbank Centre | London, 2015
Research and co-curation of audiovisual exhibition Dil Phaink in collaboration with PeaceNiche (T2F) Collective
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Medien- und Klangkünstlerin, Autorin | Berlin, October 2021 - Present
Self-employed
Tussen Kunst en Kind, Text & Cultural Affairs | Berlin, November 2022 - January 2023
Podcast Producer | Collaborating with Dutch artist and writer Mirthe Berentsen to produce a new podcast series accompanying her upcoming book on art and motherhood
Radical Sounds Latin America | Berlin, August - November 2022
Communications and Editorial Manager | Overseeing communications of the 2022 festival series in Berlin, online writer, media inquiries and relations, archiving of festival coverage
Berlin Art Prize | Berlin, July - October 2022
Co-curator | Artistic research, conceptual collaboration, editing of print materials, curator of Suppose that Rome is not a human habitation (Bassem Saad) and NightVision (Mazenett Quiroga)
Digital in Berlin | Berlin, January 2022 - May 2023
Cultural and Events Manager, Artist Host | Events planning and production for the Kiezsalon concert series. Writing and editorial support for DIB, artist host and cultural management
Spatial Sound Institute | Budapest, September 2019 - August 2021
Programme and Research Collaborator | conceptual collaboration for artist residency programme, publications planning, writing, recording and editorial execution of articles, essays, and interviews for SSI publications, library outreach research with authors
EDUCATION
Master of Arts in Media Arts Cultures (2019)
Erasmus Excellence Joint Masters Degree with three European
Consortium Partners - Danube University, Aalborg University &
University of Łódź
Austria, Denmark & Poland
Bachelor of Design (2010)
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture
Karachi, Pakistan
AWARDS & GRANTS
Weltoffenes Berlin Fellow
Hosted by Errant Sound
Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion
Berlin (January 2024 - December 2024)
Composing Sonic Futures
Publishing Grant
Stitchting Human Expo Foundation
Netherlands (2020)
MA Media Arts Cultures
Scholarship for Master studies
Cowasjee Foundation, Khatija Adamjee Foundation,
Nusserwanjee Foundation, Feroze & Shernaz Bhandara Trust
Karachi (2017-2019)
Prince Claus Award
PeaceNiche (T2F) is a laureate for Prince Claus Award
Part of the core creative team
Netherlands (2016)
RECENT PRESS
LINK: https://clotmag.com/audio-visual/clotmix/clot-magazine-presents-alifiyah-imani-your-listening-is-a-paracosm
LINK: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/seeing-sound-episode-5-andrew-pekler-alifiyah-imani-monom/ id1568842547?i=1000528349031