PROJECTS INSPIRED BY THE HISTORY OF THE ROMA HOLOCAUST

On the occasion of August 2 – International Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, ERIAC features projects supported by the Arts and Culture Innovation Program inspired by the history of the Roma Holocaust.

REVIVE/PURANO HANGOS – REVIVAL OF OLD VOICES

Project curted by Tamara Moyzes at The Artivist LAB.

In Revive/Purano Hangos, the artist Emília Rigová dealt with the topic of the Roma Holocaust. Old music notation of ancient Romani songs, so-called phurikane giľa, became the main source of inspiration.

In this art project, the melody was brought back to life by Roma and non-Roma musicians. The majority of society thus revived old Roma voices. In the act itself, it was symbolically a kind of historical justice. Rigová tried to preserve the video recordings on which the musicians sing according to the music recordings of the defunct Romani compositions and enliven them.

The Artivist Lab gallery exhibited a self-playing piano, constantly repeating the song “Aven, aven, ó žandára / The cops caught us”. The visitors of the exhibition could sit by the piano, sing and play the lyrics of the song.

The exhibition was part of the program of the 22nd World Roma Festival Khamoro.

Giora Kukui and Jitka Matiová

More information: https://www.artivistlab.info/253/revive-purano-hangos

The Artivist LAB is a gallery space that gives voice to political art, Artivism, media, and actual social issues. It hosts Czech and international artists. It support and exhibits ‘artists in need’ who are persecuted for their activities in their home countries. It provides space to art students and curators who are willing to work on social topics. The gallery main idea is to connect people who come from interdisciplinary fields and respond to social and political issues; It is a laboratory where exhibitions, discussions, workshops, and lectures are held, where philosophers, sociologists, journalists, artists, and activists meet together at the gallery exhibitions and have interaction.

PORRAIJMOS, A SILENCED GENOCIDE IN SPAIN

Project curated by Rromane Siklǒvne.

Rromane Siklǒvne wanted to raise awareness among the people of Barcelona about the anti-Gypsyism of the past and present, using art as a means of communication. The main production of the project was an audiovisual with the dramatized testimony of a Samudaripen survivor. The audiovisual, ‘Letter from Margarete Bamberger from the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp’, consists of the musical dramatization of the letter written by Margarete Bamberger to her sister while she was in the extermination camp. The letter is a testament to the harsh living conditions they suffered.
The dramatization of the letter has been done by the flamenco dancer ‘El Yiyo’. The austere scenography has tried to transmit the testimony with the utmost respect, dramatizing it with different rhythms of flamenco. After the testimony of the survivor, we have subtitled a summary of what the Samudaripen meant and remembering all the victims.
The video was produced in Spanish and English, and uploaded to Vimeo and Youtube so people can use it freely.

Rromane Siklǒvne is an organization founded by the first Roma students who have finished compulsory education and continued in higher education in the neighbourhoods of Bon Pastor and Baró de Viver in Barcelona.
Their main objectives are:
– Support and motivate the rest of the Roma students in the primary and secondary schools of Bon Pastor and Baró de Viver (Barcelona) to finish compulsory education and continue their studies.
– Sensitize Roma families to the importance of education for the future of their children.
– Support young Roma in their emancipation process, through information and job orientation.
– Promote and spread the Roma culture.