Deep Listening 

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Solo Exhibition 

The Ismaili Center, Houston TX

December 13 2025 - June 2026

Photo: Courtesy of the Ismaili Center

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Presented as part of the inaugural exhibition at the Ismaili Center in Houston, Deep Listening features two projects by Raheleh Filsoofi: Imagined Boundaries and ShahTár (شه‌تار). Together, they introduce visitors to the Center’s commitment to reflection, awareness, and cultural dialogue.

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Imagined Boundaries considers how borders shape perception. Although the work contains no sound, it invites a slowed, attentive gaze—revealing how silence, distance, and the act of looking influence our understanding of one another.

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ShahTár, created in collaboration with Reza Filsoofi, is an instrument that will be activated through performance. Its presence and future soundings invite audiences to experience listening as a shared, embodied practice.

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Together, these works offer two complementary forms of deep listening—one grounded in stillness, the other in sound. The exhibition echoes the idea that consciousness may be altered through profound attention to our sonic environment, and even through the awareness of its absence, encouraging visitors to arrive with openness and heightened presence.