Sound Artist Ivana Dama presents "Echoes of Urgencies" and "Figures in Air"

Throughout the run of the special exhibition “Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers,” a site-specific stage located in front of the Modern’s auditorium features both programmed performances and spontaneous activations. Join us on Friday, May 22 at 2 pm and Saturday, May 23 at 3 pm for free performances by Serbian sound artist Ivana Dama. These performances present two different approaches to sound amplification. Dama’s first performance, “Echoes of Urgencies,” revisits Cold War-era tools for public warning devices (e.g., klaxons, horns, alarms) and recontextualizes them through custom-made “siren disks” as free-form musical instruments. In “Figures in Air,” Dama blurs the lines between microphone, sound, amplifier, and audience via a unique, theremin-like instrument. With it, the artist’s soundless gestures are ascribed frequencies and pitch, disrupting spaces through paradoxical acts that are both silent and musical. Learn more about these performances and other Rashid Johnson, “Stage,” 2026 events: https://www.themodern.org/performances