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The question of the possibility for the continued existence and functioning of art after the experience of the Holocaust is one of the key themes in both art historical and philosophical thought. Within the artistic/creative practice of Roma artists – both those born after and before the war, survivors of the Holocaust and its witnesses...

At just ten years of age, Anna Maria Steinbach, known to her friends and family as ‘Setella’, was gassed in Nazi Germany’s Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. While many may be unfamiliar with her name, many will be familiar with her image. Staring out of a wagon, her face full of fear as she was transported to the...

As part of the online campaign, we invited Spanish-Romani artist Rocio Montoya to develop a common visual identity to raise awareness of the Roma Holocaust Memorial Day. The designs, including posters, cover pictures, Facebook profile picture frames and billboard designs are made freely available for all to use.  Download the complete VISUAL IDENTITY here     Discover the...

  24.07 – 26.09.2021   The exhibition Art and Healing- A Roma Contribution for Europe opened in Schafhof – European Center for Art Upper Bavaria on July 24th. The exhibition features works by Valérie Leray (F), Selma Selman (BH), Dan Turner (GB), Alfred Ullrich (D), and the nomadic RomaMoMA library, consisting of approximately 100 English-language...

Europe’s Roma Remember Holocaust Victims as part of the annual commemorations of August 2nd Each year, August 2nd marks Roma Holocaust Memorial Day – a day of official remembrance for Romani victims of the genocide, which took place during the Second World War.  In a message of unity and with the objective of raising awareness of...

It is a great privilege to have been approached to share my thoughts on the RomaMoMA blog.[1] Nevertheless, my initial reaction was very personal and hesitant. I had to ask myself: who am I to be given this great opportunity to suggest, propose, advise, or simply share my personal scepticism, discomfort, and disenchantment about the...

The third edition of the contemporary art fair – Autostrada Biennale, launches today in Prizren, Kosovo The exhibition will feature the installation ‘HERSTORIES’ by Polish-Roma artist Malgorzata Mirga-Tas and Roma artist and activist Edis Galushi The installation features a series of large-format textile portraits of extraordinary Romani women created in collaboration with local Roma community...

Two weeks ago, we posted the video documentation of the Restitution panel discussion within the online conference, Critical Approaches to Romani Studies, organised by the Romani Studies Program at Central European University (CEU), in partnership with ERIAC and OFF-Biennale Budapest, 31 May 2021. Last week, we posted Part 1 of the transcript. Today we post...

Last week we posted the video documentation of the Restitution panel discussion within the online conference, Critical Approaches to Romani Studies, organised by the Romani Studies Program at Central European University (CEU), in partnership with ERIAC and OFF-Biennale Budapest, 31 May 2021. Today we post Part 1 of the transcript. The panel was introduced by...

Panel discussion within the online conference, Critical Approaches to Romani Studies, organised by the Romani Studies Program at Central European University (CEU), in partnership with ERIAC and OFF Biennale Budapest, 31 May 2021.  Recent struggles for racial justice and decolonisation have forced cultural institutions, museums, and galleries all over the world to critically reflect upon their...

The evolving concept of a Roma Museum has a crucial role to play in reclaiming access to our cultural histories, but questions remain regarding its future form. Possibilities range from a mobile museum to a dedicated building, but while debate continues, perhaps a more oblique take on the subject—a Roma MetaMuseum—might move us closer toward...

  The campaign, part of the wider ‘Proud Roma Free Europe’ initiative, aimed at encouraging Roma to declare their ethnic identity in national censuses across Europe in 2021 and 2022 In partnership with the Roma Initiatives Office (RIO) of the Open Society Foundations and the Roma-led civic initiative Opre Roma, the European Roma Institute for...

I have been asked to offer my opinion regarding the concept of RomaMoMA, an institution putting on display contemporary art. Mine is an opinion that comes from a seasoned non-Roma observer of contemporary Roma art scene, a Poland-based critic and curator. The emergence of an establishment like this poses a number of questions, the first...

Throughout 2021, ERIAC is leading the Proud Roma Free Europe transnational campaign to boost Romani pride and identity in a year where many countries are conducting their national censuses. For this purpose, ERIAC is seeking to engage the best creative talents from our communities to inspire our people to stand up and be counted. More information...

This week, we feature the Roma Resistance and Resilience exhibition, currently on view at ERIAC Art Space Berlin, with another version of the show on view at the newly opened ERIAC Serbia in Belgrade. We can only comprehend the 600 years of resilience and survival of the Roma minority in Europe if we recognise the...

RESIST![1] illuminates 500 years of anti-colonial resistance in the Global South, shining a light on colonial oppression and its effects up to the present day. The exhibition pays homage to all the women, men and children who have resisted in multifaceted ways and whose stories remain mostly untold or unheard. Numerous works by contemporary artists...

The Transnational Romani Resistance March video is out!   This year on May 16th 2021, we, the Roma community in Europe, came together in a transnational initiative – across borders, generations and genders – to mark the 77th anniversary of the Romani Uprising at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp.  Together, we held Romani Resistance marches and commemorative activities in around...

The First National Exhibition of Self-Taught Artists in Hungary was already organised by Ágnes Daróczi in 1979, in order to bring into the limelight talented Roma artists; yet, the third such display, in 2000, continued to be held in the Museum of Ethnography (Budapest), rather than an institute of contemporary art, as if the exhibits were manifestations...