public agency of travel planning for the overwhelmed

As part of my artist residency with the City of Portland’s Office of Arts & Culture, I created Public Agency of Travel Planning for the Overwhelmed, a fictional travel consultancy that took the form of an interactive installation and performance in the historic Portland Building downtown.

The project draws from my experiences as an international student and social practice artist navigating visa processes, borders, and the complexities of global mobility. At the heart of the installation was Permission to Leave — a fictional “exit visa” that requires individuals to apply for permission to leave their own country.

Visitors to the installation were invited to participate in mock interviews, fill out exit visa forms, and navigate an imagined bureaucratic process that feels eerily familiar — and uncomfortably real. By reversing the usual direction of border control, the project asked: What if your ability to leave wasn’t guaranteed, even for those used to moving freely?

Throughout the residency, I also hosted workshops and free “advice hours” in the office space, creating opportunities for community members to reflect on travel, passports, borders, and the often absurd structures that shape global movement.

Public Agency of Travel Planning for the Overwhelmed invites participants to sit with the uncertainty, surveillance, and power imbalances embedded in immigration systems — and to question who gets to move, and who doesn’t.

Photos by Ame Morrison and Nina Vichayapai