Trans-Pakistan is both the title of Majeed’s long-term research practice and the name of a tourist agency that was once owned and operated by the artist’s 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’s digital universe.
J😊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 “South Asian digital kitsch,” storefront merchandising, and early web interfaces, Majeed’s 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’s 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.
Umber Majeed: J😊Y TECH is organized by Lindsey Berfond, Assistant Curator and Studio Program Manager.
Umber Majeed: J😊Y TECH is made possible in part by lead support from the Jerome Foundation, the Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center through the Technology Immersion Program, Looking Glass, and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant. Additional support is provided by the Queens Museum Exhibitions Circle.
Collaboration with Maureen Catbagan
