Exhibiting Peace: A Century of Migration History in Trapani, Sicily, May – June 2010 Italy New York University Sarah DeMott, USA, New York University, International House – NY www.peacetrapani.net Section I: a) Exhibiting Peace: A Century of Migration History in Trapani, Sicily was designed as a public history project to begin a dialogue with the local residents and recent migrants about the role of migration in the community of Trapani. The core of the project design was to introduce photography as a communication tool for migrant groups. It was the goal of the project to use photographs for a community photography exhibit that would document the lived experience of immigrants in Trapani. b) I received camera donations from outside sources through our web-site, although ultimately I decided to buy cameras with the Davis grant fund. Distributing new cameras ensured that each person would be using the same camera, thereby standardizing the equipment quality and technology for teaching and learning purposes. c) Arriving in Trapani, I quickly realized that the topic of immigration is a much more highly emotional and controversial subject than I had anticipated. I had originally planned to work with North African immigrants from Tunisia; however those that had worked to assimilate were resistant to publicly speaking about their experience. As one Tunisian woman explained, she lived in constant fear of losing her apartment, jeopardizing her husband’s job, or being deported; therefore, she seldom left her house or talked to strangers. Local Italians were also hostile to open discussions of migration, often comparing the glory of Italian emigrants’ historical contributions in the United States to the drain that contemporary immigrants were putting on Sicily. Trapani is a city that operates on a traditional system of local contacts in order to gain access to public services; it took over 3 weeks to gain the trust and introductions from local authorities to carry out a public exhibit. In the meantime, I noticed that African men would gather each day at the local internet café near the train station so I started hanging out at the internet café and introduced myself to people that were visibly immigrants. In addition, the local branch of the Young Communist Group was holding meetings regarding anti-mafia campaigns, so I went to their rallies and learned more about the social networks in Trapani. They suggested names of people that I could meet with to ask for permission, as well as suggesting that I speak with the resident advisor of the refugee camp, Noé. I went to visit Noé at the refugee camp, Badia Grande, and realized that many of the men inside were the same men I was befriending at the internet café. Noé presented me to Maurice, a Nigerian man with a United Nations refugee passport. I arranged to meet Maurice that afternoon for a walk and coffee. Maurice brought along his roommate, Godspower, and from there the circle grew to 9 African men. Their names are Maurice, Godspower, Victor, Albert, Hassan, Ahis, Ehis, Louis, and Noé. Although the aspect I like most about my project is that it was organically created, making contact with a non-profit organization before arriving would have facilitated the initial set-up and ensured success. Each day I would go to the gates of Badia Grande and ring for permission for “our guys” to come out. They each speak English and each holds a United Nations refugee passport. They all are living, or have lived, at the camp as part of an Italian national assimilation program. One of our favorite things to do was to cook lunch at my house. In the camp, they don’t have access to a kitchen and are disgusted by Italian pasta. Therefore, cooking together became a key component of building trust. Each day someone would take charge of cooking our main dish – African Rice Stew! While dishes were being cleared, I would conduct an oral history interview with one of the participants. As part of the peace project, I was interested in video recording their migration experience. The audio format of oral history complements the visual format in which the photography also seeks to capture personal experiences.

Exhibiting Peace: A Century of Migration History in Trapani, Sicily, May – June 2010

By the start of our fourth week, the group was formed and Meredith Davidson, our photography instructor from New York University arrived and began the photography workshops. The guys took to her warm and casual personality immediately. For me, she was essential in brainstorming, juggling logistics, and having a partner in the work! Our goal with the photo workshops was to allow the participants to have an opportunity to explore the visual ways of expression. Like any art form, photography requires both technical instruction and creative experimentation. Previously, the group’s photography experience had been limited to using cell phones to take pictures. Meredith’s instructions focused on what an image can say or mean. She encouraged the men to try different angles, get closer, get lower, step back, and not resist snapping shots. She would ask, “What does this photograph say? What does this photograph mean?” For example, during a session photographing “home in Trapani,” a participant explained he was taking pictures of crumbling facades because it matched his own desires to leave Trapani. However, an introductory photography workshop should be a minimum of 4 weeks of instruction or at least 12 classes. I hadn’t secured a location for the exhibit, but was still active in making appointments to meet with various bishops, mayors, directors, etc. to discuss the idea of a public exhibit. During this time I met a Sicilian man named Santo Vitale of “La bottega delle percussioni,” a professional drummer and educator on African music. He was willing to offer a two-day music workshop for the project. http://www.labottegadellepercussioni.it. Through the drumming workshop we were able to get access into the camp, Badia Grande, and involve all of the 25 residents, 10 staff members, as well as 10 members form the Young Communist Group. At the drumming workshop, all of the photography participants brought their cameras and took hundreds of photos. With the photos from the event, we created an installation of 28 of the photos on 20” x 17” canvas boards and hung them on the stark bare walls of the recreation hall. During the installation we invited all of the youth group, language tutors, social workers, area merchants, and local friends that we had met during the 5 weeks to attend the exhibit. About 60 people attended the opening. The exhibit was a success in that it opened the doors to the camp. Locals walked in and out of the camp from the street and joined in the reception. The exhibition of the images created an opportunity for the participants to identify with the workshop themes about the power of visual communication. In addition, the exhibit has transformed the walls of the camp into a conscious reminder of the connection between the local community and music of Africa that they created through communicating their story. Section II a) Exhibiting Peace in Trapani confirmed the power of communication on the individual and local level to create peace. Fundamental to peace is the ability to both express and be heard. The art of communication ideally occurs in a mutual dialogue of action and reception. In our project conversations were created through the action of performing music, dancing, talking, exhibiting, photographing, cooking, crying, teaching, drumming, inviting, walking, and laughing; and we created the ways for conversation to be received by listening, recording, viewing, tasting, posing, and waiting. Since we left, journalist from Giornale di Sicilia are working in the camp to record the stories of the 25 men living there. The University of Rome, la Sapienza has requested that the oral history that we gathered be donated to their archive on migration history. And there are new friendship links being created on facebook accounts. We continue to keep in touch from internet cafés across the Atlantic Ocean. b) If we commit ourselves to the vulnerable act of communicating, we can create new unimagined spaces. A small group of people telling life experiences through multiple perspectives and multiple forms of expression can become visible. Cooking in our kitchen, posing for photos, walking together down segregated streets, hanging photos on empty walls, playing music together transformed our community environments. Thank you so much for this opportunity.