The African Female Gaze: Identity, Memory, Diaspora, and Resistance

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Event

Start Date

8-3-2026 5:28 AM

Description

This paper builds on a public seminar held in Rome in June 2025 as part of the Visionary Africa series, inviting the audience to explore the powerful contributions of African women photographers—from early pioneers to contemporary voices. A key theoretical reference is The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators (1992) by bell hooks, which introduces the concept of an oppositional gaze—a way of seeing developed by Black women in response to historical exclusion from representation or reduction to stereotypes. The starting point for this paper is a self-portrait by Felicia Abban, Ghana’s first professional female photographer who opened a studio in Accra in 1955. In the portrait, Abban poses in profile and three-quarter view, with a carefully styled hairstyle, earrings, and a heart-patterned dress. The image conveys profound modernity—an elegance and pride softened by a gentle gaze that looks confidently toward an independent Ghana's future. Abban’s self-portrait tells an insider's story, marked by awareness and creativity. Her many self-portraits act as a ritual of presence—a quiet affirmation of selfhood and authorship.

Alessandra Migani is an independent curator and researcher based in Rome, with a focus on African diasporic discourses and interdisciplinary art, especially photography. She holds a Humanities degree from La Sapienza University of Rome, with a focus on art, music, and film. Her projects often explore cultural identity and diaspora. Recent curations include Intimations with Othello De'Souza-Hartley and Silvia Rosi, in partnership with Autograph ABP, London. She also created Visionary Africa, a seminar series on African photography at WSP Photography, Rome, and gave a lecture at University Roma Tre in May 2025. She writes for different online art magazines.

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Mar 8th, 5:28 AM

The African Female Gaze: Identity, Memory, Diaspora, and Resistance

This paper builds on a public seminar held in Rome in June 2025 as part of the Visionary Africa series, inviting the audience to explore the powerful contributions of African women photographers—from early pioneers to contemporary voices. A key theoretical reference is The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators (1992) by bell hooks, which introduces the concept of an oppositional gaze—a way of seeing developed by Black women in response to historical exclusion from representation or reduction to stereotypes. The starting point for this paper is a self-portrait by Felicia Abban, Ghana’s first professional female photographer who opened a studio in Accra in 1955. In the portrait, Abban poses in profile and three-quarter view, with a carefully styled hairstyle, earrings, and a heart-patterned dress. The image conveys profound modernity—an elegance and pride softened by a gentle gaze that looks confidently toward an independent Ghana's future. Abban’s self-portrait tells an insider's story, marked by awareness and creativity. Her many self-portraits act as a ritual of presence—a quiet affirmation of selfhood and authorship.

Alessandra Migani is an independent curator and researcher based in Rome, with a focus on African diasporic discourses and interdisciplinary art, especially photography. She holds a Humanities degree from La Sapienza University of Rome, with a focus on art, music, and film. Her projects often explore cultural identity and diaspora. Recent curations include Intimations with Othello De'Souza-Hartley and Silvia Rosi, in partnership with Autograph ABP, London. She also created Visionary Africa, a seminar series on African photography at WSP Photography, Rome, and gave a lecture at University Roma Tre in May 2025. She writes for different online art magazines.