Nepantla Collective
© Mick Mannion 2023
The Nepantla Collective is a socially engaged project that explores the collective and individual experiences of migrant women from Latin America in Ireland through photography. Visual artist Silvina Sisterna, co-founded The Nepantla Collective, welcoming women from different countries—Bolivia, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil—interested in expressing and critically reflecting on their experiences as migrants in Ireland through representation in photography, intersectional feminism, subjective displacement, and uprooting.
The Nepantla Collective meet weekly working collaboratively on visual projects that involve digital, analogue and alternative photographic processes such as Cyanotypes, Lumen prints and Photograms. Their work involves concepts of Gloria Anzaldúa’s theories of the borderlands, fragmentation of the identity and its permanent reconstruction.
“Her (Gloria Anzaldúa) theories serve us not only as a framework to reflect on our realities but also as a map from which we can find some guidance in our inner journeys as well as in our creative processes.”
© Mick Mannion 2023 & © Lucila Severini 2024
“Being part of the Nepantla collective has allowed me to recognize in a safe space, where I have the opportunity to express myself through different artistic tools, with interesting practices and activities that invite us to question our fragmented identity due to our history of migration, an experience we each have in common.”
© Silvina Sisterna 2024
Nepantla creates a bridge, a connection between a space where Latin American women can share their narratives through the lens of a camera, contributing to the enrichment of the collective visual culture. The Collective encourages cross-cultural understanding by fostering a sense of unity to bring diverse voices to the forefront. By celebrating the unique stories and experiences of those who have been displaced, this project promotes inclusivity and underlines the transformative potential of photography as a bridge between communities.
“Everything we worked on, agreed, felt and lived during these months in what we call our third space. Mainly from the collective, but also from each one of us on a personal level. To be able to show and make visible to everyone who visits or knows the project, our realities as migrant women in Ireland.”
© Lucila Severini 2024
Nepantla echoes Photo Museum Ireland's vision of Photography For All promoting inclusivity, education, community engagement, empowerment, and accessibility, making photography an art form that can be enjoyed and embraced by individuals from different walks of life.
“Nepantla is a group that serves as a support network and a space where we can channel all our creativity and ideas, share them, bring them to life – a place where we can share and create art with Latin American women.”
Nepantla Collective Members:
Ana Taly Sastre, Camilla Taurizano, Dania Russo, Laura Estefany Delgado Olmos, Lucila Severini, Luisa Hernandez, María Eugenia Salvador, Maura Tangara, Monica Sanchez, Rosana Lopez and Victoria Verrastro.
Nepantla is supported byPhoto Museum Ireland’s Artist-led Community Programme and the Arts Council Artist in the Community Scheme, managed by CREATE.
Silvina Sisterna
Silvina Sisterna is a socially engaged visual artist based in Dublin. Originally from Argentina, her artistic practice is rooted in the collaborative experience of working with women from Latin America and the use of the photographic medium as a means of female empowerment and reflection of their identities.
She holds a Master´s degree in Fine Art (TU Dublin) and is a 2023 recipient of the AIC Project Realization Award by the Arts Council managed by Create. Last year she was selected to participate in the Summer School on Collaborative Practice and Social Change and she was the 2023 recipient of the Create and FSAS Residency Award. Silvina Sisterna was supported by Fire Station Artists’ Studios Artist Residency 2023. Earlier this year, Silvina joined the Latin American Solidarity Centre as a Management Committee Member.
@nepantla_collective / @silvinasis
www.sisternasilvina.myportfolio.com
