EAST IS EAST

East is East (Multan, Pakistan, 2003) highlights the dissonance between billboard advertisements and the everyday realities of expanding cities in Pakistan. Large commercial signs dominate urban spaces in Pakistan. In this installation, a video of the skyline of Multan is projected onto a billboard, gradually zooming in on a British-style tea advertisement. By highlighting the contrast between the city’s landscape and ‘English’ affluence, East is East underscores how these glossy, idealized images sit uneasily alongside the visible social disparities.