Umber Majeed: J馃槉Y TECH
Umber Majeed: J馃槉Y TECH uses speculative fiction to offer a counter-narrative of the Pakistan Pavilion at the 1964鈥1965 New York World鈥檚 Fair. Majeed鈥檚 multimedia works look at the history of the Pavilion through the perspective of the South Asian diaspora, her ongoing Trans-Pakistan project, and the visual culture of phone repair shops in Jackson Heights, Queens. Trans-Pakistan is both the title of Majeed鈥檚 long-term research practice and the name of a tourist agency that was once owned and operated by the artist鈥檚 uncle. While the agency ultimately shuttered due to Islamophobic travel policies throughout the War on Terror, Trans-Pakistan continues to evolve as both metaphor and simulation in the artist鈥檚 digital universe.
J馃槉Y TECH includes an augmented reality experience, installation, video, drawings, and ceramics that employ the language of the bootleg or counterfeit as a mode of worldbuilding. Calling to mind 鈥淪outh Asian digital kitsch,鈥 storefront merchandising, and early web interfaces, Majeed鈥檚 fictional promotional campaigns and reimagined artifacts present alternative sources for filling in the gaps found in institutional archives. From hand-drawn posters and reconfigured maps to interactive AR postcards and 3D animations, the exhibition includes references to the Pakistan Pavilion鈥檚 architecture, displays, goods for sale, and other fragments of the pavilion that circulate online. Majeed explores histories that are in a constant state of redefinition, blurring the lines between what may be considered official or unauthorized, authentic or propaganda, legible or opaque.
Recommended for you
Umber Majeed: J馃槉Y TECH uses speculative fiction to offer a counter-narrative of the Pakistan Pavilion at the 1964鈥1965 New York World鈥檚 Fair. Majeed鈥檚 multimedia works look at the history of the Pavilion through the perspective of the South Asian diaspora, her ongoing Trans-Pakistan project, and the visual culture of phone repair shops in Jackson Heights, Queens. Trans-Pakistan is both the title of Majeed鈥檚 long-term research practice and the name of a tourist agency that was once owned and operated by the artist鈥檚 uncle. While the agency ultimately shuttered due to Islamophobic travel policies throughout the War on Terror, Trans-Pakistan continues to evolve as both metaphor and simulation in the artist鈥檚 digital universe.
J馃槉Y TECH includes an augmented reality experience, installation, video, drawings, and ceramics that employ the language of the bootleg or counterfeit as a mode of worldbuilding. Calling to mind 鈥淪outh Asian digital kitsch,鈥 storefront merchandising, and early web interfaces, Majeed鈥檚 fictional promotional campaigns and reimagined artifacts present alternative sources for filling in the gaps found in institutional archives. From hand-drawn posters and reconfigured maps to interactive AR postcards and 3D animations, the exhibition includes references to the Pakistan Pavilion鈥檚 architecture, displays, goods for sale, and other fragments of the pavilion that circulate online. Majeed explores histories that are in a constant state of redefinition, blurring the lines between what may be considered official or unauthorized, authentic or propaganda, legible or opaque.
Artists on show
Contact details
Related articles
Umber Majeed鈥檚 work cuts deep for those who saw their diasporic culture meld queasily with early internet culture.
J馃槉Y TECH sends up the superficial, spectatorial ways that Western travellers engage with cultures besides their own.