Blue Italian is a short film by artist and filmmaker Gabriella Davies exploring Italian migration to the midlands through her late Nonno's 8mm home videos. Using his narration alongside clips from TV and film, this piece illustrates the gap between the romanticized images of Italians in popular culture and the harsh, overlooked reality of working-class industrial migration. This film is about archiving family histories as a way to understand ones own contemporary place in the world, and questioning what has changed when you - like your Nonno - still can’t find San Marzano tomatoes down your local corner shop.
Gabriella Davies is a multi-disciplinary, working-class, trans artist based in London & Stoke-on-Trent. Previously described as ‘a reasonable balance of swearing & insight’ and ‘chic & tacky all at the same time’, she’s a member of Babeworld, and works in a blend of video, music, photography, installation, and writing.
Blue Italian has been developed with support of a NMG Development Programme Production Bursary award to Gabriella Davies and delivered in partnership with Four/Four. The Production Bursaries programme supports in the development of an ambitious and sustainable culture of production within the Midlands, by establishing relationships with project mentors and working with bursary recipients over a period of up to 9 months to develop and produce artwork to be exhibited at a partner venue.
Four/Four works to showcase and support artists through a mixed programme of exhibitions and events. Focus is placed on practices which seek to activate the space, typically through sound, video, installation and performance, but also through artist residency. The space was founded in 2018 and is currently led by Adam Grainger.
New Midland Group (NMG) is a consortium of three artist-led organisations located in Nottingham. Backlit, One Thoresby Street and Primary work together to foster the profile and sustainability of contemporary visual arts in the Midlands, through research, activity and development opportunities for artists and creatives.
