Federal de la Statistique, still in 2021 Italians were the largest group of migrants in Switzerland. This phenomenon has, of course, an impact on different levels on Swiss society. The new diaspora is different in many aspects from the migration of the 1960s and 1970s. How can an image capture a complex, ineffable, and unrepresentable notion of modern Italian cultural identity? Furthermore, how can an image represent the cultural identity of a group of people whose lives have been irrevocably altered by the experience of physically moving away from their homeland and resetting in a terra incognita?

The Invisible Diaspora is a photographic exploration of contemporary Italian migration in the Arc Lémanique region of Switzerland. Through environmental portraits and personal narratives, the project investigates how migration shapes identity, belonging, and everyday life among Italians who have crossed national borders in the twenty-first century. Moving beyond traditional representations of migration as crisis or rupture, the work focuses on a largely unseen and often socially invisible diaspora: highly mobile individuals whose experiences unfold between languages, cultures, and places. The portraits reveal the complexity of living across multiple worlds simultaneously, where home becomes a fluid and negotiated concept rather than a fixed location. The project directly engages with the theme “Crossings” by examining migration as both a physical and emotional journey. The subjects inhabit spaces of transition, navigating borders not only between Italy and Switzerland but also between past and present, attachment and mobility, belonging and estrangement. Their stories reflect crossings that are geographical, cultural, linguistic, and psychological. The images are the result of an interdisciplinary and creative approach, which brings together culture, identity, photography, and creative processes. Inspired by the lived experience of the author as an Italian migrant in Switzerland, the exhibition offers a profound vision of the phenomenon of migration, integration and identity through visual communication.

Visual communication scholar, photographer and professor at Webster University in Geneva. He serves as head of the Media Studies Program and deputy academic director while directing the Webster Center for Creativity and Innovation. Arese Visconti's research explores the intersections of migration, identity and photographic representation. His recent book, “The Invisible Diaspora” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), examines 21st-century Italian migrants in Switzerland's Arc Lémanique region. His work, exhibited throughout Europe, focuses on migrant communities' sociocultural narratives. Notable exhibitions include the Swiss Pavilion at EXPO 2015 in Milan and the National Museum of Italian Emigration in Genoa (2024). His research encompasses African immigration in Switzerland and the Italian-Chinese community in Prato, Italy. Arese Visconti, recipient of the William T. Kemper Award for Excellence in Teaching, is a member of several academic and professional organizations. He is also a trained archaeologist.