Women's Tales of the Italian Diaspora
By Maria Lisella

Above Jessica Chornesky

The numbers may vary, but we have all seen some version of them: 60 million Italians living in Italy and just as many living abroad. From 1870 to 1970, some estimate that 27 million people emigrated from Italy settling all over the globe from Latin America to Canada to the U.S. and other European nations. The stories behind these movements are eternally fascinating not only to scholars and historians, but to the people who stay behind or go for the gold in faraway places. The drama of the Italian Diaspora is equally compelling to younger generations who inherit these stories as an intrinsic part of their identities. As such, any creative work or scholarly discoveries stand a good chance of attracting people of all ages.

Emigrations from Italy to the U.S. in the words and photos of the women who were separated by the Italian Diaspora are the subject of an upcoming exhibit that will be installed at the Italian American Museum February, 14 2005- March, 11. This photo dialogue was created by Jessica Chornesky, a professional award-winning photographer whose “70 UP: New York Women in their Prime,” exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York two years ago won accolades and acclaim in countless publications.
The current exhibit, “Something Borrowed, Something New” intimately documents the lives of 30 women. These honest portrayals offer insight into the incredibly difficult decision of choosing to live abroad in America, and of the relatives who chose to stay in Italy, or those who attempted to settle in America only to return home. “I am hoping people will rethink their own cultural biases surrounding Italian women as I believe their histories have been underrepresented due to their gender,” says Chornesky.
Interviews were conducted on both sides of the Atlantic among sisters, cousins or other counterparts reflecting their personal visions, but also their attitudes in rapidly changing worlds both in Italy and in America.
Sound domes will be installed overhead so viewers will see the photos, read the words and hear the voices behind the stories. Excerpts of Chornesky's interviews with the subjects will provide visitors with insights into her subjects' attitudes about the old country, the new one and their sisters and relatives who did not accompany them on this journey. Essentially, Chornesky created an audio history, a method that won her just praise for the 70 UP exhibit.
Chornesky has also traveled extensively in her professional and personal lives. Her journeys have taken her from Barnard College for Women to a career in music management until she followed her passion for photography and became a professional photographer. Chornesky went to Bosnia in the mid-'90s to run a photography workshop for displaced Muslim children and snapped the elders in their refugee camp, which inspired her impulse to study age in the 70 UP project.
As for Italy, Chornesky confesses to a love affair with the country and its culture marrying her love for oral history, photography into a marriage called “Something Borrowed, Something New.”
“Something Borrowed, Something New” will also be shown at the Queens Museum of Art and Brooklyn Borough Hall also in 2005--dates to be announced. The Universities of Palermo, Catania and Rome also want to show this exhibit.
For now, the project has been limited to these 30 women, but Chornesky would like to expand its parameters. As an independent photographer, Chornesky must not only develop concepts and creations, she must also hunt for funding. She credits the National Italian American Foundation as her primary patron and secondarily, the National Organization of Italian American Women, but to take the show on the road, Chornesky will continue knocking on doors to raise funds for what promises to be a fascinating exhibit focused on a subject that has often gotten short shrift in tales of the Italian Diaspora.