AsylumNYC was as site-specific investigation into regimes of exclusion.

The project invited 10 non-U.S. artists to participate in an exhibition at WHITE BOX in New York. Out of these, two was finally rewarded the legal aid necessary to obtain a 3-year artists visa to the United States.

The online application period began on February 7th, 2006 and ended on April 1st, 2006. In this short period, a total of 235 artists from 43 different countries applied for participation. 

The AsylumNYC exhibition opened at WHITE BOX in Chelsea on Monday, April 24th 2006. From this day to the end of the week, the selected artists were kept in detention in WHITE BOX and were not permitted to leave the gallery.

The artists were not allowed to bring any tools or materials with them into the gallery and were only given a notebook, as well as a blue and black pen. For creating their work, they had to rely entirely on the goodwill of gallery visitors and the arrangements they could make with these. 

This was the set-up for a very intense and interesting week in New York. Interest for the project exceeded all expectations and more than 2.000 visitors came by WHITE BOX to experience things for themselves. 

Additionally, the extensive media coverage from New York Times, CNN, BBC and numerous other media outlets meant that an estimated 90.000.000 (!) individuals were informed about the AsylumNYC project globally. 

At the last day of the exhibition, Dusanka Komnenic from Serbia and Montenegro were awarded the free legal services of immigration lawyer Daniel Aharoni, Attorney at Law. Dusanka was selected from the participating artists on the ground that her artistic project managed to break the most mental and visual borders, without actually breaking any of the project rules.

Additionally, immigration lawyer Martin C. Liu Associates supported AsylumNYC with pro-bono legal services for yet another artist. Mexican participant Antonio O'Connell Perez Rubio was selected to receive this service.

Antonio was not able to physically attend the project in White Box, as he was denied entrance to the United States of America by the official authorities. Nonetheless, Antonio managed to participate from afar, involving visitors in New York City and elsewhere via phone and internet, while by his absence clearly illustrating the situation of many contemporary immigrants.


CONTEXT:
AsylumNYC was informed by research from the refugee communication-platform: AsylumHOME.net.

While AsylumHOME aims to actively empower refugees immigrating to Europe, AsylumNYC explores the notion of acceptance needed by the creative worker to be a successful immigrant in the U.S.

Echoing restrictions forced upon asylum seekers, foreign artists in the U.S. must be approved by immigration authorities to stay and work. To qualify for a U.S. visa, an artist or any other creative professional have to demonstrate extraordinary ability in the arts as evidenced by awards, critical reviews, or professional affiliations. They must also be able to afford the legal expenses associated with this extensive procedure. 

Functioning within these processes, AsylumNYC confronted its otherwise privileged participants with their own precarious freedom of movement. 

The project performed the notion of acceptance needed by both the traditional refugee and the creative worker to be a successful immigrant. Similar in kind to the proof needed by an asylum seeker to be accepted as a "real" refugee by the nation state, the creative worker has to prove her/his worth to the creative community before gaining status as a "real" artist. And just as any other immigrant, the asylum artist will ultimately be dependent on the goodwill of strangers to thrive in their new environment.