Encounter
2022
Encounter is a fictional family album, exploring tales of migration and diaspora through self-portraiture, performance and symbolism. Inspired by an image in the family album of her young mother as a market trader in Lomé, Silvia retraced her parents’ migrating journey from Togo to Italy. She performs her family’s narrative, using in a personal way the artistic strategies developed by the tradition of West African “studio portraits”. Head-carrying, a skill traditionally passed on from mother to daughter, is performed by the photographer in an attempt to regain a tradition that has been lost through migration. Silvia places at the centre of her practice the issue of identity, constantly assessed, for those Italians with diasporic ancestry.
With the support of the Italian Cultural Institute of Paris.
About the artist
Born in 1992, Silvia Rosi lives between England and Italy. She graduated from London College of Communication with a BA in photography. She received the Jerwood/Photoworks Awards and BJP’s Portrait of Britain in 2020. Her work has been exhibited in London for the Taylor Wessing National Portrait Prize, the Autograph ABP New Artist Commissions and the PHMuseum Days Photo Festival. Originally Commissioned by Jerwood/Photoworks Awards 2020