Descendants of immigrants and refugees from countries in the Middle East and South Asia often find a hard time living in the post 9/11 United States because they have Muslim names. Take former San Jose State Professor and artist Hasan Elahi. After September 11, while trying to catch a plane, he was detained and interrogated by the FBI, and compelled to share a lot of personal information with the Feds: where he went, what he did. He was eventually cleared, but the experience inspired him to launch a project called “Hiding in Plain Sight” in which he photographs every single detail of his daily life – no matter how mundane – and uploads it on his website for the world – and the FBI – to see. It’s a form of “surveillance protest art.” Elahi's exhibit “Hiding in Plain Sight” is on display at the Intersection for the Arts gallery through April 22, at San Francisco's Hub SoMa. In this piece from the KALW News archives, KALW's Hana Baba sat down and asked him about the project.

Descendants of immigrants and refugees from countries in the Middle East and South Asia often find a hard time living in the post 9/11 United States because they have Muslim names. Take former San Jose State Professor and artist Hasan Elahi. After September 11, while trying to catch a plane, he was detained and interrogated by the FBI, and compelled to share a lot of personal information with the Feds: where he went, what he did. He was eventually cleared, but the experience inspired him to launch a project called “Hiding in Plain Sight” in which he photographs every single detail of his daily life – no matter how mundane – and uploads it on his website for the world – and the FBI – to see. It’s a form of “surveillance protest art.” Elahi's exhibit “Hiding in Plain Sight” is on display at the Intersection for the Arts gallery through April 22, at San Francisco's Hub SoMa. In this piece from the KALW News archives, KALW's Hana Baba sat down and asked him about the project.