‘The joy of being detained by U.S. Customs and border protection’ was shaped during my first ever arrival to United States, where at the Airport it took me more than six hours being interrogated by four different homeland security officers - going through each and tiny bit of luggage in my suitcases -  asking me cliché questions over and over again to the point where I frustratingly had to say them to send me back to my country.

 

It all happened at the San Francisco airport, where I arrived to go to Santa Curz for my first Artist Residency in the United States. After 17 hours of connecting flights from my hometown Lahore, Pakistan - tired and drained, I wasn’t really prepared to get interrogated by immigration officials for unbelievingly long hours. It was a very painful experience - as I was thirsty and starved, I wasn’t allowed to go use the restroom, and each single item in my bags were being checked more than three times. The situation made me feel very helpless and hostile. I had no authority over myself at this point; I felt almost like a puppet in the hands of the homeland security authorities, following their orders. It felt totally humiliating but I guess being Brown, Muslim and a Pakistani comes with its own package.

 

The experience fueled the creative favor for me and I ended up making this joyful piece to hang shamelessly in public like my dirty laundry.