Sarina Khan Reddy’s work explores the differences within her cultural identity as an Islamic American woman. Through the lens of her Indian heritage, she explores the intersection of capitalism, entertainment and colonialism. The paradox of being Western and Eastern, being a colonizer and the colonized, critically analyzing colonialism and at the same time desiring a discredited history is the driving force behind her work.

Disney World is the most visited vacation destination on the planet. Annually, 46 million tourists visit the Orlando area. In Sarina Khan-Reddy’s latest work, a series of photographs and video entitled “Picture Spot” (2005) she explores the perpetuation of the colonialist image and the construction of the exotic, in the Disney theme park, “Animal Kingdom.” She asks the questions: What is authentic? What is the relationship between tourism and Imperialism? What are the unspoken subtexts when theme parks construct "exotic" scenes (spots) for tourists to “capture”? Does this perpetuate the spectacle of the other?

This single channel video examines the blurred boundaries between entertainment and the news and the relationship between militarization and the corporate globalization. This piece shifts between footage from the Hollywood blockbuster movie Rambo III and footage in the Oval office of President Reagan meeting with Afghan “freedom fighters” with a subversive ticker-tape at the bottom of the screen. The question of how history is deliberately forgotten is raised through a metaphor of writing and erasing.

Sarina Khan-Reddy
March 2007
Personal Web Site