James Webb

KADIST and the Blaffer Art Museum present a new commission by James Webb at the Blaffer Art Museum.

Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions at the Blaffer Art Museum features a new commission of James Webb titled Prayer (Houston) (2024), a multi-channel sound installation comprising recordings of vocalized worship by individuals who belong to various faith and spiritual affinities in Houston. These religions include, but are not limited to, most denominations of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, and Christianity, as well as contemporary spiritual movements and religions. Over two hundred recordings of prayers are collected and broadcast simultaneously from twelve speakers on a red carpet. Unsynchronized into an ever-changing sonic environment, listeners are invited to remove their shoes and walk the length of the carpet composing their own arrangement of voices as they move, kneel, or lower themselves next to a speaker to listen more closely to particular prayers. Through the framework of religion and spirituality, and by the participatory nature of the project, Prayer (Houston) brings to light the city’s cultural and historical dynamics.

Prayer is an ongoing project remade around the world since its first presentation in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2000. Prayer (Houston) is the twelfth iteration of the artwork. A visual artist with a degree in comparative religion, Webb initiated Prayer five years after his country ended its legislation of Apartheid. Following decades of segregation Webb created a work that emphatically brings people together. Prayers articulate a basic wish for communion and often serve to solidify a community of faith in a place of worship. By deliberately gathering prayers from a variety of neighborhoods and spiritual practices, Webb seeks to create a situation of coexistence. The process for creating Prayer is collaborative and rooted in the place where it is installed. Invitations are extended to all communities and people of faith in the city and all participation is voluntary, with each participant receiving a copy of the recordings made with them.

Prayer (Houston) is co-commissioned by the Blaffer Art Museum, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston, and KADIST.