Points of Encounter

Silvina Sisterna and the Nepantla Collective

Funded by the Arts Council Artist in the Community Scheme, managed by Create, the National Development Agency for Collaborative Arts.

Points of Encounter is a collaborative project between artist Silvina Sisterna and the Nepantla Collective, running from 2023 to 2024. This initiative delves into the collective and individual experiences of Latin American women in Ireland using photography, filming and poetry. The collective includes Ana Taly Sastre, Camilla Taurizano, Dania Russo, Laura Delgado Olmos, Lucila Severini, Luisa Hernandez, María Eugenia Salvador, Maura Tangara, Monica Sanchez, Rosana Lopez, and Victoria Verrastro. The meetings took place at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios and Photo Museum Ireland on a weekly basis for a period of ten months.

Aims

Points of Encounter aimed to create a body of photographic work that enabled the community to express creatively and reflect critically on their experiences as migrant women in Ireland.

The project focused on the artistic theme of liminality, inspired by Gloria Anzaldúa’s theories. Her research examines borderlands, where various identities converge, revealing how these intersections can lead to both oppression and resistance. Anzaldúa also highlights the significance of embracing hybrid identities and the strength derived from merging diverse cultural and linguistic traditions.

“Being part of the Nepantla collective has allowed me to recognise 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.” Ana T. S.

Methods

Research for Points of Encounter began in the winter of 2023, with group meetings every Wednesday. During each session, the lead artist, Silvina, would suggest topics for discussion or creative activities, aiming for playful exploration through simple visual tasks without the pressure of creating defined outcomes. During this phase, the community would also meet for a coffee and photo-walks, activities that helped to create bonds among the members of the collective and with Silvina herself. Overall, this phase was vital not only for building trust and cultivating relationships but also for collectively beginning to visualise the next steps of the project.

By the conclusion of this phase, the collective expressed a desire to explore alternative photographic methods and cameraless techniques, such as cyanotype and lumen prints, as they could see the potential of such techniques for challenging dominant structures by subverting traditional photographic techniques and exploring new forms of representation.

Online dialogues and surveys allowed everyone to contribute ideas for the upcoming stage.

“Nepantla was my salvation. For me, it was a time of great personal growth. I had the opportunity to experiment, create art, and exhibit art. I had always wanted to do this, but I felt too embarrassed to do it alone. Through our collective work, I gradually gained more confidence over time.” Dania R.

The project commenced in August 2023 with exploratory workshops on various cameraless processes and the implementation of different techniques on printed photographs, such as embroidery and painting. These encounters were followed by invitations to take photographs with film cameras, where participants learned to develop their films and even print them in the darkroom that the Photo Museum generously allowed the artist and the group to utilise.

The project realisation phase comprised two distinct stages: the experimental and the outcome-focused moments. In the initial months, collective members exhibited considerable enthusiasm for coming together, acquiring new skills, and sharing their experiences as migrants in Ireland. However, it was only in the second stage that genuine collaboration took place. After a democratic survey to determine the concept the community wished to emphasise for the final exhibition, the group organised photo shoots to collaboratively explore the visual outcomes for the project. These encounters required extensive hours of work, involving the setup of cameras, lighting, and flashes, alongside the active participation of members in the creative process. This process sometimes became messy and necessitated iterations of creation, coupled with the democratic decision to exclude certain techniques or outcomes that lacked sufficient artistic quality or justification for inclusion.

“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.” Lucila S.

Documentation of the Nepantla Collective’s collaborative process at Photo Museum Ireland. Points of Encounter Project. Photo: Ben Malcolmson

Artistic Outcomes

Points of Encounter was showcased in June 2024 at the Lightroom of Photo Museum Ireland. The installation presented the Collective’s photographic experiences, including digital photography, moving images, and text. Alongside the exhibition, the collective released a small publication in which they presented a selection of photographs, poems and cyanotypes created by the members.

Watch short film by the Collective

Points of Encounter Pop Up Exhibition at Photo Museum Ireland. Photo Silvina Sisterna