Towards a Roma Project Space Venice | Attend the Hybrid Conference on 22 October 2026
On 22 October 2026, Roma artists and organisations, international cultural institutions, partners and allies will meet at the European Cultural Centre in Venice for the hybrid conference Towards a Roma Project Space Venice, organized by Stiftung Kai Dikhas, to discuss what a sustained Roma presence at the Venice Biennale could become, and what institutional, curatorial and political form it should take. The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) will contribute to the conference with an intervention on the history of Romani contemporary art at the Venice Biennale from 2007 to 2022, presented by Dr. Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka, ERIAC Executive Director.
In 2024, RᵒOMA LEPANTO, organised by Foundation Kai Dikhas with the support of ERIAC at Palazzo Bembo, ended with a collective call for a sustained Roma platform in Venice. Towards a Roma Project Space Venice continues this conversation, reopening the questions of Roma representation in light of the fast-changing political and institutional context of the Biennale. It revisits how Roma artists have been represented at the Venice Biennale and also raises a broader question: who is granted visibility within an international art system still largely organised around nation states?
Towards a Roma Project Space Venice will take place in a hybrid format, with the conference streamed live via Zoom on 22 October 2026, from 14:00 to 17:15 CEST. The event will be held in English. ERIAC warmly invites artists, cultural practitioners, institutions, partners, and members of Roma communities to join the conference online.
Read more about the conference at kaidikhas.com | To join, click here
Towards a Roma Project Space Venice – Programme
14:00–14:10 | Welcome and Opening Remarks
Moritz Pankok & Matthias Koch, Foundation Kai Dikhas
14:10–14:40 | The History of Romani Contemporary Art at the Venice Biennale (2007–2022): The Roma Pavilions
Dr. Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka, ERIAC Executive Director (online)
14:40–15:00 | RᵒOMA LEPANTO (2024): Presentation and Screening of the Performance Video
Moritz Pankok & Luna De Rosa, Foundation Kai Dikhas
15:00–15:15 | Reflections on the 2024 Conference: Proposal for a Roma Project Space Venice
André Raatzsch
Contributions from partners, guests and supporters
15:15–15:30 | UNAR – Italian National Office Against Racial Discrimination (online)
15:30–15:45 | Dijana Pavlović, actress, human rights activist, cultural mediator and Deputy Chair of the Board of ERIAC
15:45–16:00 | Beatrice Ferraboschi, Social Cohesion Department, City of Venice
16:00–16:15 | Ivor Stodolsky & Marita Muukkonen, Co-Founders, Artists at Risk (online)
16:15–16:30 | Miguel Ángel Vargas Rubio, art historian and ERIAC Arts & Culture Section Coordinator (online)
16:30–16:45 | Dovrat Meron, Venezia Contemporanea
16:45–16:55 | Additional Contributions and Open Discussion, in person and online
16:55–17:10 | Foundation of the Alliance for the Roma Project Space Venice
Romani Rose, Chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma
17:10–17:15 | Closing Remarks
Cover image: Eugen Raportoru, The Abduction from the Seraglio, installation view. 59th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia