Reading time: 5 min.
By Matteo Rosadi, Alexia Angeli
In a world where migration is often reduced to statistics or emergency-driven headlines, “DiMMi – Diari Multimediali Migranti” (Multimedia Migrant Diaries) serves as a powerful counter-narrative. It provides a space for care, encounter, and dialogue, where migrants and individuals with a migratory background, who live or have lived in Italy or the Republic of San Marino choose to share their personal testimonies, transforming them into a heritage of collective memory.
Founded ten years ago, DiMMi aims to foster a deeper and more authentic understanding of migration and human mobility. The project collects autobiographical testimonies from migrants and individuals with a migratory background in the form of diaries, letters, stories, and multimedia materials. The Territorial Commissions select these works within spaces of care and dialogue, where every story holds value, and some stand out due to the urgency of the themes they address. The selection arises from the conversation among participants, who reflect on how certain testimonies can evolve from individual experiences into collective narratives. Selected works are published in the DiMMi anthologies, while both chosen and unchosen submissions are preserved in the National Diary Archive of Pieve Santo Stefano, ensuring they become part of Italy’s historical memory of the society we are not totally aware of, but actually building.
More than just a literary initiative, DiMMi is a space for listening, recognition, and dialogue. It challenges dominant media narratives that often depict migration solely through emergencies and burdens. As historian Michele Colucci noted in “Il confine tra noi” (2019), the project highlights the “lived experiences, paths, lives, origins of those who are casually labeled as ‘migrants’, a definition that authorises the removal of everything that comes before and after the migration experience.”
Since 2024, the project has expanded onto the international stage through ITHACA – Interconnecting Histories and Archives for Migrant Agency: Entangled Narratives Across Europe and the Mediterranean Region, a research initiative funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 program.
The talk with Sonia Lima Morais: the power of encounter
On March 21st, 2025, the Interdisciplinary Research Unit on Migration (IRMI) hosted a seminar lecture at the Social Sciences Campus in Novoli featuring Sonia Lima Morais, a finalist in the 2023 DiMMi competition. The event, held in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, focused on her testimony, “Sguardo Nero: il razzismo in Italia non esiste” (Black Gaze: racism in Italy does not exist), which explores intersectional discrimination and identity in Italy. “Colors and facial features suggest migration even when there is none. There is not just the gaze of the other, but also mine. When I am looked at, I also look back,” she explained, reflecting on the title of her work.
Credits: Photo by authors
During her talk, she examined the layered and often invisible nature of racism, describing how discrimination intersects with classism, sexism, and other factors. She discussed how language, tradition, and history contribute to a Eurocentric framework that expects assimilation over genuine cultural exchange. “There is always someone coming from elsewhere, always further south. There is a constant confrontation between gazes. The problem is that in Italy, a newcomer is seen as someone who must necessarily integrate, rather than someone to engage with. Those with a migratory background embody multiple coexisting worlds, yet they are often expected to set them aside to conform. The person integrating never approaches this process bilaterally; it is always a one-sided gaze that never asks questions.”
The bilateral gaze that Morais evokes urges us to rethink our perceptions and policies. “In Italy, we have frozen ourselves in the idea of integration and lost sight of the human dimension. Yet, without socialization, there is no human being. The very concept of integration inherently implies a power imbalance,” she argued.
She further explained that the logic of integration arises from a classist and colonial mindset, where those deemed to be integrated are perceived as disadvantaged and less educated. This perspective prevents a genuine recognition and appreciation of cultural diversity.
Morais also encouraged confronting Italy’s often-denied colonial past, citing historical injustices such as “madamato” (forced relationships between Italian men and colonized women), abuses, and the use of gas in Eritrea and Somalia. In this sense, DiMMi provides a space for reflection not only on contemporary society and migration, but also on historical narratives and their lasting consequences on racial prejudices and social inequalities; DiMMi, in fact, also deals with welcoming, education, connection with the country of origin, faith, dreams and desires experienced by its protagonists.
At the core of the discussion was the idea of identity as a fluid and evolving concept. Morais emphasized the political power of language, arguing that everyone should have the right to define themselves. She asserted that the fight for inclusive language is part of the broader struggle for identity recognition.
“I am still a work in progress, like anyone with a non-conforming identity. If you asked me who I am today, my answer would probably be different from ten years ago. Today, I would say that I am an Afro-descendant Italian woman. My identity is plastic; it evolves alongside others. I am an identity in construction, listening.”
Credits: Photo by authors
Upcoming events
The discussion with Sonia Morais was part of a larger citywide initiative, supported by Europe Direct Firenze, Arci Firenze — which has been promoting DiMMi for 10 years — and the Territorial Commission of the University of Florence, established last year in the classrooms, to promote DiMMi.
Among the upcoming events:
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- On May 8th at Circolo di Porta al Prato (Arci Firenze) and on May 9th at the Social Sciences Campus in Novoli, as part of the course “Mediterranean and Middle East: Migration, Islam and Oil”, and the 150th-anniversary celebrations of the School of Political Sciences “Cesare Alfieri”, Mustafa Reza, a 2023 finalist, will present “La vita dolce amara” (The Bittersweet Life), his narration of his journey from Afghanistan. He will be joined by Fiamma Ferzetti, who conducted a 12-hour interview, meticulously documenting his story by reporting his own words.
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- On May 30th at the Pietro Thouar Library, Salif Thioune, another 2023 finalist, will present his work “Bismillah”.
Meanwhile, the 10th edition of DiMMi is underway. The winning works will be announced at the 41st Pieve Saverio Tutino Award in September 2025 and will be published the following year in the DiMMi collection, curated by the publisher Terre di Mezzo.