This summer, the Joukowsky Institute was excited to host two high school student interns from Skills Rhode Island’s PrepareRI program, Alex Gomez and Nicole Susana. As a part of their summer internship, they had the opportunity to see and discuss Valeria Luongo’s exhibition “When Women Fly.” Luongo is an Italian documentary photographer and filmmaker based in London, whose background in anthropology characterizes much of her work. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, The Guardian, and The British Journal of Photography, and has been praised by UNSTUCK Magenta Foundation and the Format Festival.
The student interns reflected on what Luongo’s work meant to them, as well as what they learned from it. Their response as written is below:
The exhibit includes photographs of the ritual ceremonial dance and the process of it. There are also pictures of the beautiful women who are breaking barriers and flying.
The video is playing on a big white wall, and it’s filmed from the point of view of one of the dancers, so you feel like you’re in it. Five participants dance then ascend a 30-meter pole and jump off tied to the ropes, they revolve around the pole towards the ground.
Lastly, there is a description of the woman who photographed the moment, Valeria Luongo. It includes what Voladoras in Cuetzalan del Progreso are, the history, and why women being a part of it is inspiring. People should visit this exhibit because it’s exposure to something out of our daily lives and surprising information that you can grasp on to. It’s an opportunity to learn and be aware about a culture and to remember that the world is much bigger than we think it is. It’s interesting to see how rituals still live on to this day and you can recognize the passion and how close to their hearts they hold these moments of flying.
Photographs by Nicole Susana
Text by Alex Gomez and Nicole Susana, edited by Christina Miles