Our residences

Zhina Ardalan

Zhina Ardalan is a Paris-based musician and sound artist originally from Tehran, working under the moniker XEEN. Her practice weaves together experimental electronics, processed voice, electric guitar, and field recordings to create textured sonic environments. She began her career in Iran’s underground music scene as a founding member of The Finches, one of the country’s pioneering all-female rock bands, and later co-founded the synthwave project Stereotype. In her solo work as XEEN, she delves into themes of exile, dislocation, and grief, giving form to the emotional landscapes that emerge from migration and rupture.

This project is about releasing emotions I have kept inside for most of my life, grief, displacement, and the pain of not being able to speak openly. Using sound, voice, and image, I want to express what has stayed stuck in my body. I will work with guitar, field recordings, and vocal textures, and include the stories of women around me who have also experienced illness and disorientation after leaving home.

FOLLOW