Generations Fly By; I Choose to Fly High

An archive of candid documentary and raw unedited 35mm film photography of three living generations of Italian migrants, in gratitude of my grandmother, curated in reflection of the cyclical nature of life, grief, and reciprocity.

It is almost exclusively from my grandmother Erminia, especially through her cooking and her singing, that I learn about and connect to my Italian heritage. She has been my greatest aid in my journey to carry forth tradition as well as learn the Italian language and preserve Nones, our northern dialect. I create as an act of devotion and gratitude to my ancestors as well as to the earth and source. In curating this body of work, it only felt right for nonna to not merely be an overarching thread, but both the beginning and the end, as well as seen throughout. This is to honour the cyclicality of nature and creation, as well as my gratitude for her life and lessons; In this way, mia nonna è il mio fiore // my grandma is my flower:

Le cose di ogni giorno raccontano segreti // Everyday things tell secrets

A chi le sa guardare ed ascoltare // To those who know how to watch and listen

Per fare un fiore ci vuole un ramo // To make a flower you need a branch
Per fare il ramo ci vuole l’albero // To make a branch you need the tree
Per fare l’albero ci vuole il bosco // To make the tree you need the forest
Per fare il bosco ci vuole il monte // To make the forest you need the mountain
Per fare il monte ci vuol la terra // To make the mountain you need the land
Per far la terra ci vuole un fiore // To make the earth it takes a flower
Per fare tutto ci vuole un fiore // To do everything you need a flower

Per fare un tavolo ci vuole il legno // To make a table you need wood
Per fare il legno ci vuole l’albero // To make wood you need a tree
Per fare l’albero ci vuole il seme // To make the tree you need the seed
Per fare il seme ci vuole il frutto // To make the seed you need the fruit
Per fare il frutto ci vuole il fiore // To make the fruit you need the flower

Ci vuole un fiore, ci vuole un fiore // It takes a flower, it takes a flower

Per fare un tavolo ci vuole un fiore // To make a table you need a flower

— Canzone e filastrocca “Ci vuole un fiore”, musicata da Sergio Endrigo sulle parole di Gianni Rodari // Song and nursery rhyme “It takes a flower”, set to music by Sergio Endrigo with lyrics by Gianni Rodari

My grandmother was merely 19 when she left Italy’s mountains to start a new life in Canada of Turtle Island, unable to speak the language. Her and my grandfather made a living through feminine craft and hard labour. As a third-generation Italian immigrant I hope to honour the lived experience of my grandparents through my work and shed light on both the trauma and joys of the Italian diaspora. The most important generational knowledge and life lessons they have passed down to me revolve around food, community, and living off the land.

On raw and unedited 35mm film—curated in reflection of cycles of life, nature, grief, gratitude, and reciprocity—I have documented the candid experience of life at home in Toronto as well as my sister and I’s first and thus far only trip to Italy. Our family’s roots reside in Val di Non, a valley within the northern Trentino-Alto Adige region, where polenta is plentiful, autumn apple harvests bring communities together, and towering mountains tempt the adventurous.

From the joy of cooking for one another, an appreciation of Italy’s historic architecture, and reuniting siblings separated by sea, we embark on a journey to embrace the valleys before us and overcome unimaginable peaks. It is family and community that then grounds us back down to earth, where with solemn remembrance we honour the sacrifices and gifts of loved ones no longer with us. In hope that voices once silenced in isolation may be rediscovered through creative renewal and a reclamation of history, may we return our gaze to our roots and our focus to the present moment as we reside in a posture of gratitude for the blessings, abundance, and relatives still with us today.