Strange Territory. 2022 WOPHA Artist in Residence Nadia Huggins

WOPHA / 09.08.2022

WOPHA presents the solo exhibition “Strange Territory” by 2022 WOPHA Artist in Residence, visual artist Nadia Huggins, at The Betsy Hotel. Organized by WOPHA Founder & Director Aldeide Delgado, “Strange Territory” includes a series of old and new works that connects two places, the Caribbean region and its diaspora in Miami, through ideas of ecology, catastrophe, and magic while reframing the representation of Caribbean bodies in natural environments.

Nadia Huggins challenges people’s notion of nostalgia for a place that only exists in our imaginations. Photographs in the exhibition invite us to reimagine an evolving species adapting to the geological and ecological changes happening on the planet. They investigate how the concept of hybridity can move beyond a solely human experience by exploring the potential agency of non-human species and the environment as a whole system shaping our future world.

Exhibition: Strange Territory. 2022 WOPHA Artist in Residence Nadia Huggins
Curator: Aldeide Delgado
On view: September 22, 2022 – November 22, 2022
Opening: Thursday, September 22, 2022 | 6 – 9 pm
Location: The Betsy Hotel Gallery (1440 Ocean Dr. Miami Beach, FL 33139)

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Evening Schedule

6:30 pm | Welcoming remarks by WOPHA Founder & Director Aldeide Delgado and Exhibition Partners.
6:40 pm | Guide tour by 2022 WOPHA Artist in Residence Nadia Huggins.

About the program

WOPHA Artist in Residence program, in partnership with The Betsy Hotel, grants a one-week residency in Miami to local and international women photographers, connects them with the South Florida academic and creative community, and offers opportunities for studio visits, artist presentations, classroom conversations, and exhibitions as part of the organization initiatives.

About the artist

Nadia Huggins was born in Trinidad and Tobago and grew up in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where she is currently based. A self-taught artist, she works in photography and, since 2010, has built a body of images that are characterized by her observation of the everyday. Her work merges documentary and conceptual practices, which explore belonging, identity, and memory through a contemporary approach focused on re-presenting Caribbean landscapes and the sea.

Nadia’s photographs have been exhibited in group shows in Canada, USA, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, Ethiopia, Guadeloupe, France, and the Dominican Republic. In 2019, her solo show Human stories: Circa no future took place at Now Gallery, London. Her work forms part of the collection of The Wedge Collection (Toronto), The National Gallery of Jamaica (Kingston), and The Art Museum of the Americas (Washington DC). Nadia was selected for the New York Times Portfolio Review (2018), and her work has been included in several publications, including A to Z of Caribbean Art. She is the co-founder of ARC Magazine and One Drop in the Ocean – an initiative that aims to raise awareness about marine debris.

About the curator

Aldeide Delgado is a Cuban-born, Miami-based independent Latinx art historian and curator, founder & director of Women Photographers International Archive (WOPHA). She has a background in advising and presenting at art history forums based on photography, including lectures at the Tate Modern, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), DePaul Art Museum, King’s College London, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and The New School. Delgado is a recipient of a 2019 Knight Arts Challenge, the 2018 School of Art Criticism Fellowship by SAPS – La Tallera, and a 2017 Research and Production of Critic Essay Fellowship by TEOR/éTica.

Delgado conceptualized the world’s first-ever WOPHA Congress: “Women, Photography, and Feminisms” (November 17 – 20, 2021). She publishes and curates from feminist and decolonial perspectives on crucial topics of the history of photography and abstraction within Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx contexts. Prior to founding WOPHA, Delgado created the online feminist archive Catalog of Cuban Women Photographers, the first comprehensive survey of Cuban photography history highlighting women’s contributions from the nineteenth century to the present. She is an active member of PAMM’s International Women’s Committee and PAMM’s Latin American and Latinx Art Fund, US Latinx Art Forum, and the steering committee of the Feminist Art Coalition and Fast Forward: Women in Photography.

About cultural partner

The Betsy is a boutique beachside haven in the heart of South Beach. An architectural landmark anchoring historic Ocean Drive, The Betsy is the culmination of timeless style, attentive service, and charming event spaces. 

With its commitment to the arts, The Betsy is also a cultural and community focal point, where beachfront luxury and ocean views meet an established writer-in-residence program, richly curated live music, and a mix of permanent and rotating collections throughout the hotel’s public spaces and guest rooms.

Exhibition credits

Strange Territory is made possible thanks to the support from The Betsy Hotel, Green Family Foundation, and the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Media Partner is Sugarcane Magazine.

With gratitude to Amanda Bradley, Mireille Charles, Barbara Chisholm, Lesley Goldwasser, Kimberly Green, Melissa Hunter Davis, Yanet Jorge, Pamela ‘Zee’ Lopez, Francisco Maso, Andrea Sofía Matos, Francis Dalena Oliver, Nuria Richards, and Kim Yantis, for their support to this program.