As part of his Highfield Fellowship at the University of Nottingham, the documentary and fine art photographer Dr John Perivolaris has collaborated with 20 Latin American women living in England. Together with them, he has produced twenty-one photographic portraits and accompanying video interviews. These reflect on the twenty-first century legacy of Latin American women’s contribution to Latin American Independence struggles in the Nineteenth Century. Retratos de Independencia follows on from the Gendering Latin American Independence project, led by Professor Catherine Davies, Head of the School of Modern Languages at the University of Nottingham. Her project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) (see http://genderlatam.org.uk/).
Participants were invited to offer their thoughts on the struggles of Latin American women since Independence, role models who have inspired them, the challenges currently faced by women in Latin America and the diaspora, as well as the meaning of independence to them. The setting of each photograph and video interview was significant, as the project is also concerned with the diversity of the United Kingdom at this moment in time. Dr Perivolaris asked each participant to choose a location in which to be photographed. This was somewhere that held some significance for them as women, Latin Americans, and residents in the UK.
The photographs and videos produced were shown in an exhibition at the New Art Exchange, Nottingham, during September and October, 2010. The Highfield Fellowship is enabling Dr Perivolaris to contribute to the further development of the Gendering Latin American Independence project. It will also constitute a further stage in his photographic work related to the fields of Hispanic Studies, migrant identities, postcolonialism, and diaspora.
John Perivolaris is an independent documentary and fine art photographer, curator, writer, researcher, educator, and organiser of photographic events with a background in Hispanic cultural and visual studies. He was commissioned to undertake a project in 2010 entitled North to North: A Journey from Manchester to the Maghreb, which was exhibited at Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester, during Spring 2011.
Participants were invited to offer their thoughts on the struggles of Latin American women since Independence, role models who have inspired them, the challenges currently faced by women in Latin America and the diaspora, as well as the meaning of independence to them. The setting of each photograph and video interview was significant, as the project is also concerned with the diversity of the United Kingdom at this moment in time. Dr Perivolaris asked each participant to choose a location in which to be photographed. This was somewhere that held some significance for them as women, Latin Americans, and residents in the UK.
The photographs and videos produced were shown in an exhibition at the New Art Exchange, Nottingham, during September and October, 2010. The Highfield Fellowship is enabling Dr Perivolaris to contribute to the further development of the Gendering Latin American Independence project. It will also constitute a further stage in his photographic work related to the fields of Hispanic Studies, migrant identities, postcolonialism, and diaspora.
John Perivolaris is an independent documentary and fine art photographer, curator, writer, researcher, educator, and organiser of photographic events with a background in Hispanic cultural and visual studies. He was commissioned to undertake a project in 2010 entitled North to North: A Journey from Manchester to the Maghreb, which was exhibited at Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester, during Spring 2011.