Mumtaz Hammad is a trans-disciplinary scholar, audio designer, poet, and urban planner. They hold an M.S. in Urban Planning from GSAPP at Columbia University, after receiving their previous M.A. in South Asian Studies from UT Austin.
Their work engages with spatial justice, nightlife design, intercultural planning, liquid infrastructure, and how cultural spaces are located and interpellated in processes of urban planning.
Their writings have been previously published in EFNIKS, Spy Kids Review, URBAN Magazine, Cordite Magazine, and Rest for Resistance. CV may be provided upon request.
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Interlaced Existence Final Audiovisual Composition: A Contemplation on Nothingness
Composed as a final project for a course on life, death, and liminality in architecture, this piece explores “nothing” as the intertwining of oceanic and spiritual architecture. The narrator recites original poetry over a field recording of the ocean, referencing the vastness and intra-actions held by the ocean's spatial negativity.
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Published in 2024
GIS for Design Practices Final Atlas: Critical Cartographies of Southern Cultures
“Critical Cartographies of Southern Cultures” is an ongoing virtual atlas project, developed to visualize and spatialize contemporary cultural spaces in Austin, Texas (Somi’sek). The spatial precedent for this dataset was the CAMP study conducted by the City of Austin in 2018.
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Published in 2024
ACOUSTICS OF ARCHITECTURAL ECOLOGY FINAL: Ripples
of History: A Structural Installation Dedicated to Water Memory in Somi’sek
This final project was designed and presented in the Fall 2024 Acoustics of Architectural Ecology course at GSAPP. In this project, I used Sketchup, Ableton, Soundcloud, and Adobe Creative Cloud software to design a temporary installation near Yanaguana Springs (commonly known as Barton Springs) to highlight and celebrate indigenous Couahuiltecan connections to Somi’sek (commonly known as Austin).
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Presented in 2024
GIS FINAL PROJECT: TOWARDS A DEPOLICED NIGHTLIFE
This final project was designed and presented in the Fall 2023 Geographic Information Systems course at GSAPP. Though this project, I used digital cartographic tools to portray how nightlife in the Brooklyn borough is adversely affected by surveillance, and how our findings can lead urban planners to work toward spaces that are mediated instead of increased spaces that are policed.
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Published in 2023
DJ PROMISE CHAIN AND SPRAELLE PRESENT: “A DECONSTRUCTED RUNAWAY ORCHESTRA” ON OLA RADIO
A collaborative visual and audio project between French artist Sprælle and I, this project was internationally streamed live on Ola Radio, based in Marseille, France. Flier artwork by Sprælle and me.
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Published in 2024
BPM X DOA PRESENT: THE FIFTH ASCENSION WITH TATI AU MIEL AND EMBACI
A collaborative, performance-based, and audiovisual renegade installation located in an abandoned water drainage area in the outskirts of Austin, Texas. This show featured two international headliners: Tati Au Miel and Embaci. This was a show I designed, built, booked, and collaborated on with my collective, B.P.M., and also performed in as ‘Mortalcoil.’ Flier artwork by Eric Hernandez.
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Curated in 2022
BOILER ROOM ORLANDO: PRESENTED BY ZELOS AUDIO
A commissioned DJ performance by international platform Boiler Room and local Orlando collective Zelos Audio. In this performance, I ‘sonically-referenced’ a variety of transcontinental genres, such as kuduro, cumbia, trance to interrogate artificial divisions of borders and genres, Flier artwork by program organizers.
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Curated in 2022
AND WE WILL SING IN THE TALL GRASS AGAIN: POSTCOLONIAL FUTURITIES AT THE END OF GENDER
A multimedia art show and exhibition organized by queer and trans artists of color, curated at the Fronte Art Cultura in San Diego, California. I featured a visual installation of three of my poems, as well as a soundscape installation that I produced. Flier artwork by program organizers.
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Curated in 2021
BINARY DEATH: 20XX
A multimedia art show and exhibition organised by trans artists and featuring artwork created by trans people, curated at SUPERFUN based in Gainesville, FL. I helped the exhibition coordinators to set up the gallery and conducted a live poetry reading. Flier artwork by program organizers.
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Curated in 2017
REWORKING CURVATURES: RE-APPLYING MATERIAL + CYBORG FEMINISM
Reworking Curvatures: Re-Applying Material + Cyborg Feminism” was an online lecture I presented as part of a collaborative open source project (With You For You) operated by BY US FOR US in NYC. Flier artwork by program organizers.
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Curated in 2019
MAS’ TOUCH BECOME BIND SEEK: A QUEER DIALOGUE
MAS’ TOUCH BECOME BIND SEEK” was an exhibition centering dialogue between queer people, curated by 4MOST Art Gallery based in Gainesville, FL. I displayed some original visual works and composed a soundscape for the exhibition, as strategic formations of sonic and visual signfication. Flier artwork by program organizers.
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Curated in 2018
THEY/US ZINE: WELCOME 2 PARADISE ISSUE
An independent zine published by THEY/US Zine based in San Francisco, California. This issue covered works that spoke to queer conceptions of utopia and worldbuilding, for which I contributed a poem.
Curated in 2018