In order to map the scale and scope of the Vietnamese refugee migration, both unofficially by boats and via the Orderly Departure Program (ODP), Chung analyzed the correspondence cables and records from government and intra-governmental agencies that handled the Vietnamese refugees, retrieved during her research at the UNHCR in Geneva (2015-2017). Chung conducted interviews with resettled people in places such as Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, whose testimonies helped her make sense of the incomplete and fragmented historical records. The archival documents and personal interviews guided Chung in understanding the breadth of this migration, which saw many Vietnamese ending up in the unexpected regions of Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. Combining those with her research into the history of commercial air carriers’ pathways and capacities, Chung was able to map out the trajectories of the ODP flights that had carried Vietnamese refugees. For the escape boat routes, Chung borrowed a chart by Linda Hitchcox in Vietnamese Refugees in Southeast Asian Camps (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1990) and completed it with her own findings. Uncovering connections and filling in gaps, Chung has synthesized such data comprehensively to create visual forms for these understudied passages.

Full caption: reconstructing an exodus history: boat trajectories from Vietnam and flight routes from refugee camps and of ODP cases (2020), embroidery on fabric, 140 x 350 cm, AP (edition of 2 + 1 AP)