Neus solà

Poupées (“dolls” in french) is a bittersweet look at the gypsy female condition of the suburb of La Cité of Perpignan, France, a district exclusively gypsy considered one of the poorest in the city. With the intention to draw a visual testimony of the young gypsy female of this community, I’ve fixed my gaze on the preliminary steps of their transition to adulthood, in a desire to show the wildest side of their existence, in contrast with restrictions that they will have to shoulder once they lose their virginity and become adult women. I entittled this project “dolls” as a metaphor associated with the gypsy patriarchal system. On one hand, the title alludes to the innocence and purity characterizing the universe of female children, which is in close connection with the honour and virginity; on the other side, it refers to the concept of woman-object through the early hypersexualization of these girls while, paradoxically, they have to live with the essential standards of their tradition.