Narration of the Nation

Virtual Salons: Discourses on Black Italia
In collaboration with NYU Florence
Narration of the Nation
Storytelling Through Art and Journalism

Amara Lakhous, novelist, anthropologist, NYU
Takoua Ben Mohamed, graphic journalist & screenwriter
Wissal Houbabi, activist, artist, coordinator, Trama di Terre

Moderated by
Candice Whitney, writer and translator
Angelica Pesarini, NYU

The episode will be broadcast on Casa’s Facebook Page and website

Social and political discourses about immigration in Italy explore notions of race, racialization, belonging and homemaking in different ways. How does racialization impact immigrants and Italians of North- African descent? How can journalists and artists pair humor and the arts to connect the personal and political to tell a story? In this event, we have a panel to unpack these broader questions about storytelling: Amara Lakhous, NYU Professor and Novelist, Takoua Ben Mohamed, Graphic Journalist & Screenwriter, and Wissal Houbabi, Artist and Coordinator, Association Trama di Terre. Our panelists, with careers in the arts and journalism, will speak about how they use these elements to tell stories about Italy.

In ITALIAN with English subtitles.

About Virtual Salons: Discourses on Black Italia
How can one unpack the intersectional layers of race, identity and citizenship in Italy? Inspired by Professor Angelica Pesarini’s course at NYU Florence, Black Italia, each episode will provide leading scholars, writers, artists and activists an opportunity to dig deep into questions about race, racialization, identity, citizenship, and more in Italy. By the end of the series, viewers will learn: an overview of how race and identity exist in colonial and post-colonial Italy; how racialization impacts immigrants and youth of immigrants with Arab backgrounds; strategies used by artists and journalists of the Mediterranean to tell a story about Italy; the diversity of experiences of Afro-Italian women, as featured in Future, edited by Igiaba Scego; how Black Lives Matter Movement has impacted anti-racism activism and citizenship rights in Italy. This series will be co-facilitated by Candice Whitney, Writer, Translator, and Fulbright Researcher to Italy 2016-17 and Professor Angelica Pesarini, NYU Florence.