Belfast Exposed presents Jerwood/Photoworks Awards 2020 which showcases new photographic works by two early-career artists.

The Jerwood/Photoworks Awards support artists using photography to make new work and significantly develop their practice. The awards particularly seek to encourage artists and photographers exploring new approaches to photography, and/or whose practice is experimental.

Deirdre Robb, CEO, Belfast Exposed: “We are delighted to be partners once again with Jerwood Arts and Photoworks in supporting exceptional emerging artists as they embark on their photographic career. Their commitment to and depth of practice will challenge viewers to question cultural relationships associated with identity and landscape.”

Silvia Rosi’s work explores her personal family history drawing on her Togolaise heritage, and the idea of origins. Her mother, who has been the source of inspiration for much of her previous work, plays a central role in this project, as well as her father, and their experiences of migration from Togo in West Africa to Italy. She has been informed by this history and her position as a European looking in on her family heritage. Her project is partially inspired by the West African studio portrait and also includes a visual deconstruction of head carrying techniques, a practice with its own histories, skills, rituals and aesthetics, and a strong connection to Silvia’s own family history. For this exhibition, her work will include new examples of colour and black and white photography, as well as works where she explores working with video for the first time.