I am sounding a sacred space

2022-2023

Duration variable (20’ to 80’)

Photo credit: Gabrielle Beaumont

I am sounding a sacred space is an experimental sound performance series featuring recitations of the azaan (Islamic call to prayer) distilled into pure tone, as extension of and departure from Alvin Lucier’s I Am Sitting in a Room. With the participation of vocalists from varying traditions of melody (and ma'qam) across the Islamic world, the artist asks how sound can convey cultural knowledge despite the fixity of text and create sacred space in the process.

Exhibition history

Nov 2023: The Rubin Foundation at The 8th Floor (NYC)
Aug 2023: Silo City with Squeaky Wheel Media Arts (Buffalo)
Aug 2022: Center for Arts, Research and Alliances (CARA)
May 2020 (virtual): The Laundromat Project

Vocalists:

Zain Alam
Tanais Nandini Islam (NYC)
Nadine Shaanta Murshid (NYC)
Dayatra Amber (Buffalo)
Zaimah Habeeb (Buffalo)

“By the passage of time, man is in a state of loss indeed.” (103:1-2)

زين العابدين

Thank you!