Unveiling the Queer Italian-Canadian Experience

"Unveiling the Queer Italian-Canadian Experience" is a literary and photographic artistic project, a collaboration between Toronto photographer Vincenzo Pietropaolo and Montreal writer Liana Cusmano. The photographs feature queer Italian-Canadian persons in Toronto and Montreal in spaces where they feel that their queerness and Italian-Canadian identities meet. This intersection is further explored in poetry and poetic prose.

Queerness is still a social taboo within many segments of the Italian-Canadian community and many queer people of Italian heritage remain closeted and largely invisible, forced to choose between their queerness and their italianità. The project involves the collaboration of a younger, queer poet and spoken word artist and a straight, older social documentary photographer, allowing for an intergenerational and cross-gender approach to artistic creation.

"Unveiling the Queer Italian-Canadian Experience" aims to create awareness that will lead to social change and more inclusivity for individuals, families, and groups.

Bios

Liana Cusmano (they/iel/lu), aka Luca and BiCurious George, is a writer, spoken word artist, filmmaker and arts educator. They are the 2018, 2019 and 2023 Montreal Slam Champion, runner up in the 2019 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championship, and 2022 finalist for the QWF Spoken Word Prize. Their novel, Catch and Release, was published in 2022 by Guernica Editions.

Vincenzo Pietropaolo is a photographer, writer, and independent researcher with particular interest in social justice issues. He has published over a dozen volumes, frequently combining his photographs with his own original writing. His work has been exhibited internationally, and forms part of numerous collections including the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which has honoured him with a permanent exhibition.