Hajra Waheed, Hum, 2020. Multi-channel sound installation. Installation view in HUM at Portikus, Frankfurt, July 11–September 6, 2020. Courtesy the artist and mor charpentier, Bogotá and Paris. Photo: Diana Pfammatter

Hajra Waheed’s Hum III is the final part of a trilogy of sound installations that explore vocal practices as a means to consider forms of collective resistance and sonic agency. Waheed’s first public art project in New York is part of Creative Time’s annual theme for 2025, “Sonic Commons,” developed by curator Diya Vij, which examines how sound can be used as a tool for understanding community, power, and care. Since January, Creative Time’s workshops, performances, and gatherings have looked at the texture of sounds (and silences) that form the urban landscape. 

The artist, born in 1980 in Calgary and based in Montréal, has a multidisciplinary practice that explores security, surveillance, and the covert networks of power that structure lives. In each installment of Hum—which translates to “we” in Urdu—Waheed gathers songs from liberation movements across Asia, Africa, and the Americas, transforming them into wordless compositions. Hum I, presented at the Lahore Biennale in 2020, centered on music by artists who experienced exile and persecution. Hum II, shown at the 2023 Sharjah Biennial, focused on women’s leadership in mass movements drawing on Palestinian folk music, Dalit lullabies, and Inuit throat singing. Both works used multi-speaker spatial arrangements to create contemplative environments for deep listening and reflection. Hum III will take shape as a site-specific sound chamber experience. 

Hajra Waheed, Hum II, 2023. Multi-channel sound installation. Installation view in Hum II at Fragmentos, Bogotá, May 24, 2025–February 13, 2026. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Juan Castro

Hajra Waheed, A Letter From My Sister, November 16, 2015, 2023. Video installation. Courtesy the artist

By centering international solidarity movements past and present, with an emphasis on labor and port economies, Hum III aligns with Vij’s commitment to critically investigate the evolving role of public art in politics and civic life. For this commission, Waheed engaged in deep research to explore the songs and social movements highlighted in the project. She is undergoing a community engagement process with Creative Time and local workers who will perform as part of the sound installation and co-create public programs.

Diya Vij is a curator and cultural producer who critically investigates the evolving role of public art in politics and civil life. At Creative Time, she oversees the organization’s curatorial direction, including re-launching the Creative Time Summit, initiating CTHQ—a gathering space for art and political engagement—and establishing the R&D Fellowship for socially engaged artists. Vij has held programming, curatorial, and communications positions at The High Line (New York), the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Queens Museum (New York). She has worked with artists, activists, and practitioners including New Red Order, Tania Bruguera, Linda Goode Bryant, Rashid Johnson, Morgan Bassichis, Chloë Bass, Carlos Motta, Guadalupe Maravilla, and Emily Jacir, among others. Her past independent projects include the 2023 iteration of Counterpublic, a citywide public art triennial in St. Louis. Vij serves on the Board of Directors of The Laundromat Project, is cochair of A Blade of Grass, and Treasurer at the Poetry Project.

Drew Kahuʻāina Broderick, Puʻuhonua Society