Violeta Sofia Sparks inclusive Photography exhibition by women at the National Portrait Gallery
From a Conversation to an Exhibition
Institution National Portrait Gallery, London
My Role: Artist, Photographer, Project Initiator & Contributor
Where It Started
My relationship with the National Portrait Gallery began while the Gallery was preparing for its 2023 reopening and the exhibition Reframing Narratives: Women in Portraiture.
My work was being acquired for the National Portrait Gallery's collection, and I had been invited to participate in Reframing Narratives. Being part of the project was incredibly important to me, but it also made me look more closely at the collection.
I realised that I was the only contemporary contemporary photographer of colour represented in the exhibition. So I asked a question: Where were the others?
Starting the Conversation
Rather than simply pointing out what I felt was missing, I wanted to contribute to a solution. I began a conversation with curator Flavia Frigeri about contemporary photography and the women whose stories and portraits I felt deserved greater visibility within the Gallery. I offered to help.
That conversation developed into an idea: what if we actively looked at the women who were missing and identified potential sitters whose portraits could help broaden the contemporary collection?
I researched and shared a list of 25 women whom I believed should be considered. These were women making significant contributions across British culture, public life and their respective fields, but whose presence I felt wasn't adequately reflected within one of the country's most important portrait collections. The list became the beginning of something much larger.
From an Idea to an Exhibition
What started as a conversation eventually developed into New Visions and Voices: Contemporary Portraits by Women. The exhibition brought together contemporary female photographers and sitters and included work by photographers such as Ronan Mckenzie and Nadine Ijewere, alongside my own work.
Six women from the original list of 25 sitters I proposed ultimately became part of the exhibition.
For me, that was significant. The exhibition didn't exist when I started the conversation. That is something I am incredibly proud of.
What This Project Taught Me
New Visions and Voices reinforced something I have come to believe strongly about working with cultural institutions: You don't always have to wait for someone to invite you to create change. I could have participated in Reframing Narratives, celebrated being included and left the conversation there. Instead, I asked who else should be in the room.
That question helped begin a process that ultimately became another National Portrait Gallery exhibition. For me, that is one of the most meaningful outcomes of my relationship with the Gallery.
I didn't just want to be represented within the collection. I wanted to help expand the conversation around who else could be represented there.
Comments