By combining sentiments of tragedy, tenderness and humor, the works seek to create non-colonial gestures to enact healing, rebalance and repair from the racial discrimination. When
it comes to airports, many people of color have similar experiences. It doesn’t matter if one is European, permanent resident, immigrant, or visitor, the reality is that people of
color aren’t being treated with the same dignity and respect as other passengers. And it is not because they are higher risks in terms of security.

 

Shafi’s ability to frame his queer dialogue within the quintessential Pakistani identity, adds another layer to an already ignored subject matter. The work further unpacks queer brown
sexuality, understanding that the latter may not be welcomed at home, while the former may be scrutinized through a post 9/11 lens. The work further unloads “browness” as located
within linguistic, nationalistic and ethnic fault-lines, all the while pulling them apart.

 

“The trauma of having brown skin, big beard, and south-asian English accent, interrogates at every gate of my entry into the global West, and the memory of it, forms the basis of this
project. It is this constant ‘random check’ at border controls that has informed me that I am, in fact, a dire threat by virtue of belonging to a particular ethnicity, religion and nationality.”

says Shafi.