Music & Sound
Since 2022, Abastan has become a gathering place for musicians of many kinds, from classically trained instrumentalists to experimental sound artists. Sound is central to our practice, and the soundscape of Tumanyan is a constant source of inspiration: birdsong, the rush of the Debed River, shepherds’ calls, donkeys braying, jackals howling, thunder rolling through the gorge, and echoes bouncing off the surrounding rocks.
Some musicians arrive with defined projects, while others prefer spontaneity, listening to the place and following its cues, improvising together, recording sounds in nature, or experimenting with the unique acoustics of nearby medieval monasteries or abandoned industrial spaces. In the spirit of Abastan, music here is about presence, place, and collaboration. We play in the mountains, in gardens, in yards and streets, even at the landfill, in places that transform with music, and that in turn transform the music.
An ongoing strand of our work is the creation of musical objects from repurposed materials, an initiative inaugurated by Yura Marin with his “True-Analog-Drum-Machine” in 2022 and currently developed by Mehdi Hesamizadeh and Andrei Terentev. Working with natural materials like wood and stone, as well as industrial debris and everyday items, they explore the sonic potential of the overlooked and discarded.
In 2023, under conditions of limited resources, Andrey began developing machines for processing both rigid and flexible plastic waste, and by the end of the year the first results started to appear in the workshop—small solid sheets. This inspired us to design and create objects and artworks from this material, to share knowledge, and to bring in more and more people—engaging them with the possibilities of recycling, with a careful attitude toward resources, responsibility for their choices, and a sense that they can have an impact on the problem.
For questions or collaboration inquiries, please contact:
