Youngblood member Zhu Yi recently published a book named “Alien of Extraordinary Ability”, edited by another Youngblood Kim Davies. The book is a collection of Zhu Yi's short plays that have been performed between 2008-2015, but WHAT A STRANGE TITLE, isn't it?
“Alien of extraordinary ability”
is an alien classification used by the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services. The United States may grant a non-immigrant
visa to an alien who is able to demonstrate “extraordinary ability
in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.”
Inspired by the experience of her
friends' and her own in struggling with such a visa, Zhu Yi is planning a party/event tributes to her fellow international artists in
America. And here is a small but important favor she wants to ask you
– a photo:
She says,
“I put together the book while I was
endlessly collecting supporting materials and waiting in
the limbo for this visa, called O-1. I was so lucky to
have support from numerous peers, mentors, patrons, and
friends in all kinds of ways. And I'm forever grateful.
But during that process, I
also realized that even though O-1 is a mountain that
almost every international artist in America has to climb over
and over, it's rarely heard of or understood in
the wider community, as if the O-1 visa is a secret
(and expensive) religion among the international artists, too
boring, complicated and irrelevant to bring up in a
conversation with any American. And that makes our visa
applications and careers even harder. And gradually, the burden
becomes a stigma, especially when an artist's talent is not approved
by the immigration office through their mechanical evaluation
system.
On May 31, 7pm, a party will be
held at Dixon Place under the theme of "Alien of
Extraordinary Ability". It's a celebration for the
releasing of the book, and also a tribute to my fellow
foreign artists in the US.
And here I have a request.
If you yourself, or any friends of
yours, are working in art and entertainment industries in
the US and have ever applied for,
are applying for,
will
apply for,
have been granted,
have been rejected,
have been
granted and are renewing,
or have been rejected and are applying
again for -
an O-1 visa,
I humbly ask you to
send me 1-2 working photos of yours/his/hers, along
with information of name, profession, and nationality. I will
make a slideshow of those photos and present it at the party. And I
will not ask for or indicate anyone's visa status, because
no matter it's an approval, a rejection, or pending, the
scrutiny an artist must stand up to are the
audience, the critics, the market, and time, instead of the
immigration office.
With your help, I hope to raise
awareness about how common it is to apply for such a visa,
what a vulnerable position that the current visa policy has
put international artists in, and how important it is
to support people who have to deal with this visa, because
as you will see in those photos, we are not strangers but part
of the community.
The "working photos" can
be a photo of you in a rehearsal, giving a performance, receiving an
award, writing in a cafe... or simply an art piece of yours. You
can send them along with the information to: zoe.zhuyi@gmail.com
Thank you.
Zhu Yi”
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