Nomadic Subject: Five Female Photographers in Palermo

Cristiana Perrella curated the exhibition 'Soggetto nomade' (Nomadic Subject), first at Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci in Prato and then at Centro Internazionale di Fotografia in Palermo. The show features around one hundred black-and-white photographs by five Italian women photographers, taken between 1965 and 1985. The works explore female identity and artistic research against the backdrop of Italy's social and political changes, including feminist movements, anti-mafia struggles, and battles for civil rights. The photographers are Lisetta Carmi, known for her series on travestites in Genoa (1965); Letizia Battaglia, who documented women and children in Sicily during the mafia's peak; Paola Agosti, who captured feminist protests and portraits of women from the Resistance; Elisabetta Catalano, who photographed actresses, artists, and writers as modern icons; and Marialba Russo, who shot men dressed as women during Campania's carnival. The exhibition highlights photography as a tool for understanding self and others, challenging authoritarian traditions and stereotypes.