TAmong the 193 member countries of the United Nations, 85 criminalize LGBTQI+ individuals and communities, preventing them from freely expressing their gender identity and sentencing them to prison or the death penalty. Many men and women are forced to flee from countries such as Cameroon, Ghana, Libya, but also Jamaica, Paraguay, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea and the Cook Islands, to escape violence, torture, isolation and persecution.
The LGBTQI+ migrants they found political refuge between Italy, America, Great Britain and Canada, to escape human rights violations are the protagonists of art project Asylum by the photographer Umberto Nicoletti.
Asylum, Umberto Nicoletti[/caption]
Giving them back the dignity they had been deprived of when they were reduced to an indistinct mass is the objective of the photographer who, taking photographs in Milan, London, New York, Washington and Toronto, thanks to the help of associations operating in the of the reception, he managed to compose the book Asylumpublished on May 16 for Rizzoli.
Political refugees turned celebrities
«I chose a glossy style using aesthetics to create empathy with the people portrayed and their humanity. Playing with hair and make-up, I gave them back their individuality, lingering the lens on their dreams and not on the past which represents a trauma to be removed,” he declares.
Even the choice of photographic language – black and white with shaded areas – is not accidental: «In their countries of origin – he explains – the daily life of LGBTQI+ refugees is characterized by secrecy, omission and repression. In the images, the relationship between light and shadow visually represents what we are given to know and what we ignore, the experiences kept hidden to save our lives».
The difficulties faced by migrants fleeing torture and persecution
It is by no means easy to obtain political asylum, these men and women face a complex bureaucratic procedure involving several government agencies. But above all they are subjected to different challenges: tests and interviews with a commission to which they must “prove” their sexual identity – or an intimate and individual aspect, scientifically unprovable – to decide whether or not they are entitled to protection.
Stories of pain and courage to assert one’s rights
“They are stories of pain, but also of strength and courage with which they fight for the affirmation of their rights and their identities” comments Nicoletti, hinting at a smile as she recounts that someone leafing through the photo book has traced the face of a footballer or a famous singer. «I feel I have achieved my goal: to make them icons to reflect and not subjects to commiserate» she adds.
Patrick, from exorcism in Congo to freedom in Italy
Suffering and beauty is the continuous contrast that characterizes the pages of Asylum, a treasure chest of testimonies in which looks full of self-determination guard a past marked by torture.
As in the case of Patrick, a Congolese homosexual, to whom his family administered a drugged drink during a surprise party organized for his 40th birthday. He found himself half-naked, with a cloth tied around his waist and his body smeared with paint, surrounded by people performing a ritual to free him from evil spirits. They had discovered his homosexuality and had kidnapped him and taken him to the home of an uncle, a high-ranking government official.
Asylum, Umberto Nicoletti
They gave him an ultimatum: he had to find a wife within six months, or he would end up in jail. She didn’t even think for a moment of giving in, she suffered beatings, but he managed to escape to Italy, where he now lives surrounded by friends and has a job that satisfies him and makes his past a bad memory.
Hamida, in London away from torture in Uganda
Violence also marked the existence of Halima, a young Ugandan which, after being discovered together with his fiancée, was held in jail for 7 days by the police who broke her legs and fingers and toes. He tried to commit suicide twice while in prison. Eventually they released her but since she was unable to give them the money they asked for, they showed her messages from her to father, who tried to kill her. He feared the worst, but luckily overcoming many obstacles landed in Londonwhere she started studying to build her future, in complete freedom.
«The place where we are born is a simple coincidence»
Freedom is precisely the value for which i political refugees fight daily facing long and troubled journeys.
«Most people, even here in Italy, often ignore what is still happening in some countries. For this reason, I felt the urgency to highlight, through my professionalism, a situation that often, out of prejudice, fear and a sense of shame, is hidden» Nicoletti concludes by reiterating that one must never take freedom for granted because the place where we are born is not a reflection of our merits, but a simple coincidence.
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