Olga Norman
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When people think of Italy, idyllic images arise; ideas of sun, wonderful food, friendly and beautiful people, an amazing history, wonderful furniture and lighting design, breathtaking architecture and nature. Rarely would one associate racism with Italy. However, Italy is a rapidly changing country, one that has seen a relatively recent influx of immigrants. Many Italians do not know how to cope with these stranieri, or foreigners.
I find the politics and social situation in Italy deplorable. At the top of my poster is the landmark US ruling made in 1967, which legalised mixed race marriages in the US. That was the year I was born so it is doubly significant. Hapa-haole is a Hawaiian word that I have always used to identify myself. I have also referred to myself as a Twilight Person. In a remote part of Southern Africa I met a “coloured” man (a light-skinned, mixed-race person of Malaysian and African decent) who told me I was one of the Twilight People—a person able to pass through the white world, not dark or light.
In the middle of my chest is a cross representing the hypocrisy of a country that can be both Catholic and racist. The cross is made of images of recent race-related hate-crimes in Italy. At the bottom I am giving birth to a new word, straniera, as the latest of words I attach to myself, to my identity—one that I hold with the joy of being different and multi-ethnic.
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Olga Norman was born a Hapa-Japanese Hawaiian American. She completed her BA in San Francisco and went on to a Masters Degree in Communications at the Royal College of Art. She lived in London for 16 years and is now located in Northern Italy. Olga is a part of the successful Pocko team and is also a freelance graphic designers to European and North American clients.
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