Green Card Project

…the applicant was becoming a well adjusted performer as they had to tell several stories to the audience of one (the officer), and also make sure that they are assuming the right personality for their “character”.

…the applicant was never a good actor, or a theater enthusiast to begin with. They in fact would suffer from stage fright every time they were tasked with something as minimal as announcing a short statement to a group of people… But this, this was giving them quite a thrill.

My last work, Green Card Project curated by Philadelphia’s Cannonball Festival, simulated the process of an Iranian citizen applying for an American visa. This interactive theatre installation, entirely performed by the audience members, would give the players no choice but to buy-in to the bureaucratic game of objectifying “The Other” in the name of the law. An impact that very well demonstrates my artistic inclinations: to illuminate the injustice at a level that activates the community member not only on the intellectual level but more so by putting them in the real circumstance as much as possible and creating space for their personal reflection. This process by giving them the opportunity to come to their own conclusions proves to be a tactic that carries much more tangibly the possibility for positive action and change.