Gabrielle S.C. Orisanmi

Gabrielle and Nakesha’s The Somatic Stories Project is a photojournalism series and interactive art exhibition that will provide digital and physically safe spaces for Black women and femmes to engage themes of bodily autonomy, self-love and acceptance and psychosomatic trauma rooted in gender-based violence through storytelling, performance, and visual art. In the first phase of this project, Black women will tell their stories through the lens of their bodies in a series of photojournalistic articles. In the second phase of the project, they will create an art exhibition where individuals in the Philadelphia area can engage the somatic stories via interactive modalities, receive wellness resources from vendors, and art-based tools to begin unpacking their own somatic experiences in a safe environment.