Montreal, November 3rd, 2026 – Currently on view until March 7, 2027, Saks Afridi: SpaceMosque is presented at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto (Canada). This project is the artwork of New York–based multidisciplinary Pakistani artist Saks Afridi. The exhibition explores a speculative narrative centred on a forgotten global event at the turn of the millennium. It invites audiences to examine power, belief, memory and technology through one central question: If all your prayers were answered, would it change the world or just yours?

Designed and created in collaboration with GSM Studios, Saks Afridi: SpaceMosque immerses visitors in a parafictional archival space through hybrid sculptures, sound, video and fictional news reports presented as newly uncovered evidence of a forgotten global event.

An Immersive Speculative Archive

The exhibition transforms the gallery into a working speculative archive. GSM Studios proposed a design that plays with the aesthetic of a museum archives office, treating the space as if the artworks were part of a newly discovered collection of forgotten memories.

“It is as though the archivists have stepped away for a coffee break, leaving objects under examination and evidence spread across their worktables,” said Fenton. “Visitors can check the archive and decide for themselves what happened – and what its fragmented history may reveal about our own world.”

“Saks Afridi’s work describes an event that may never have happened. So, we designed a physical space that might never have existed either,” explained Guillaume Goursaud, Creative Director at GSM Studios. “We want to invite the public to discover Saks Afridi’s work much like we did during the creative process – as fragments to be decoded, akin to the work of a researcher, leaving room for multiple interpretations.”

To bring the archives to life, a wide array of artworks and set elements – including a monumental graffiti wall positioned as a newly found artifact, repurposed items, and rich archival paraphernalia – were added to further immerse audiences in Saks Afridi’s parafictional narrative.

“GSM asked: What if this wasn’t a typical museum exhibition where we had pedestals and spotlights? What if it was all treated like an archive?” shared artist Saks Afridi. “From the way the shelves and desks look, to the little labels, to all the typefaces and how we’ve displayed everything. There are boxes and crates around the exhibition on purpose to create this aesthetic of an archives office, which all came from the minds of the designers at GSM Studios.”

An Innovative Creative Collaboration

“The role of set designers is often reduced to executing a curatorial program,” explains Goursaud. “What is innovative in our collaboration with the Aga Khan Museum is that we acted as co-creators to stage Saks Afridi’s universe through an engaging creative experience. This is not an exhibition that displays artwork; the exhibition itself is a work of art by Saks Afridi. For GSM, telling stories in this way carries strong experiential potential, rich with meaning.”

“What made this exhibition so special for me as a curator was the opportunity to collaborate so deeply – not only with Saks, but with the entire team at GSM Studios,” concludes Fenton. “Everyone brought a fresh, creative perspective to the table. It was easily one of the most collaborative and inspiring processes I have ever worked on.”