About
Bio
Fiona Whitty was born in Ireland in 1984 and moved to London in 2009. Fiona is a visual artist/filmmaker and her work is usually in the form of documentary. Fiona holds a BFA (1st class hons.) from D.I.T Ireland Fine Art, 2006 and MA (distinction) from Chelsea College of Art and Design, London in 2009.
Fiona is recipient of the LAUNCH Emerging Artist’s award 2006. Her solo exhibition, entitled ”Waiting Room” 2007 led to residency 'Art for Socially Responsible Transformation' in Italy. Selected group exhibitions and documentary projects include Antwerp, Bangkok, Milan, Lagos, Nigeria, Jamaica and Ireland. She co-founded social enterprise WhittyGordon Projects in 2011 with her creative partner Jenny Gordon.
Upcoming projects will involve projects in London, Ireland, Nigeria and Kingston as part of WhittyGordon Projects www.whittygordon.com
Artist Statement
The artistic research of Fiona Whitty focuses on the documentary as a
means to critically examine the spaces where cultures merge and
co-exist. The moving image becomes a site of visibility for
idiosyncratic histories, secret rituals, and personal narratives.
Intimate encounters pervade the work as the instrument of the camera
becomes a shared interface between artist, participant and viewer,
where the overlap makes claims for a co-production of subjectivity.
Utilizing conversation and dialogue, this shared action is seen as not
only a site for the exposition of subjectivity but also a
collaboration in its very making.
Migration and the movement of bodies through borders, cultures and
time is site of continual return for Whitty’s practice. Whether it be
Nigerians in Ireland, Irish in England, West Africans in Jamaica –
these flows of people and heterotopias, prompt a shift in the
perception of cultural hegemony and provides sites for dissent. The
work seeks to question and challenge accepted patterns and notions of
being in society and their representations.
Written by Jason H. Waite
Press
Interview on Wazobia TV Nigeria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3ab27GRsXM&feature=youtu.be&a
Interview with Irish Post newspaper
http://www.irishpost.co.uk/ten-minutes-withfiona-whitty/
Interview on Wazobia FM Sep 2015
Interview with Genevieve Magazine - Written by Shanelle Nwanaebi
http://genevieveng.com/5-minutes-with-documentary-filmmaker-fiona-whitty/