1964
FONDAMENTA ZATTERE ALLO SPIRITO SANTO 417
11 MAY – 24 NOVEMBER 2019
artists:
CELIA BAKER JÁN BERKY MARCUS-GUNNAR PETTERSSON ÖDÖN GYÜGYI BILLY KERRY KLÁRA LAKATOS DELAINE LE BAS VALÉRIE LERAY EMÍLIA RIGOVÁ MARKÉTA ŠESTÁKOVÁ SELMA SELMAN DAN TURNER ALFRED ULLRICH LÁSZLÓ VARGA
FUTUROMA 2019
Celia Baker was born in 1923 in Kent, England. She is the youngest of nine children, born into the Coates family of English Romani Gypsies. She spent time in various occupations, including hawking and farm labour. Her wool works began in 2006. Her work has been exhibited in: “No Gorgios”, Novas, London, UK, 2007; “Refusing Exclusion”, Prague Biennale, Prague, Czech Republic, 2007; “More love hours than can ever be repaid”, FEINKOST, Berlin, Germany, 2009; “The Glass Delusion,” The National Glass Centre, Newcastle, UK, 2010, and; “Call the Witness”, 54th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, 2011. Baker lives and works in London, the United Kingdom.
Jan Berky, FUTUROMA 2019
Ján Berky was born in Studenec, Detva, Slovakia in 1951. Apprenticed as a welder, Berky worked in engineering in Detva for 21 years. In 2002, after a period of unemployment, he discovered the plastic arts as a means of overcoming depression. Berky employs a number of different media in his work. Themes which appear in his work include: the fate of the Roma, their history and current social situation, and Roma music. Berky is also a talented musician, and his paintings have won several awards. A documentary film about Berky was produced in 1998. He lives and works in Detva, Slovakia.
Billy Kerry, FUTUROMA 2019
Billy Kerry is an artist and educator from Cambridge, United Kingdom. He trained at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London and since graduating in 2009 has been inspiring others by teaching and supporting at the Cambridge Regional College. Kerry’s eclectic practice narrates the close relationships between artist and material – between body and object. Through his work, Kerry investigates and challenges preconceived views of ethnicity, gender roles, and constructed conformity. He employs diverse conceptual elements and aesthetic motifs, ranging from Victoriana to current pop culture, in clashes which challenge established values to allow new insight into the way we live today. He lives and works in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Klára Lakatos, FUTUROMA 2019
Klára Lakatos was born in Csenger, Hungary, in 1968. She graduated from Ervin Szabó Grammer School in Budapest as a correspondent student and later earned a degree at the University of Pécs in cultural organisation. Her first exhibition was held at the Balázs János Gallery in the Roma Parliament in 2001. She has illustrated her own collection of children’s books, as well as the Zsolt Csánya Szolnokig collection of poems, “Napló-Kisérlet” (English: Diary Experiment). Her drawings have frequently appeared in Roma journals, including; Amaro Drom, Kethano Drom, and Lungo Drom. She lives and works in Budapest, Hungary.
Delaine Le Bas, Performance, FUTUROMA 2019
Delaine Le Bas’ works have been exhibited at Prague Biennale’s 2005 & 2007. She was one of sixteen artists exhibiting at The First Roma Pavilion Paradise Lost at the 2007 Venice Biennale. Le Bas’ installation Witch Hunt was exhibited at Gwangju Biennale South Korea 2012. She is artist and curator for Athens Biennale 2018 and is co curator with Hamze Bytyci for Come Out Now! The First Roma Biennale 2018; an idea initiated by her late husband Damian which took place at Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin. Le Bas is also associate curator at 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning London. Lives and works in various locations throughout Europe. For more information, visit www.delainelebas.com
Valérie Leray, FUTUROMA 2019
Valérie Leray was born in Chartres, France in 1975. She graduated as Master of Photography and Multimedia at the Paris 8 University. As an independent photographer Leray’s work deals with questions of the presence and absence of History in contemporary photography. In 2008, her project “Nomads” was awarded as part of “The European Year for Intercultural Dialog”. In 2009, Leray received the support of the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs. Her work has been exhibited in various countries including: Europäischer Monat der Fotografie (Berlin), Fotoseptiembre (Mexico D.F), Pyngyao International Photography festival, Paris, Berlin, Orléans. Lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Orléans, France: http://www.valerieleray.com
Ödön Gyügyi, FUTUROMA 2019
Gyügyi Ödön was born in 1966 in Mátészalka, Hungary. His graphic works combine Christian iconography with a kind of Gypsy genesis mythology and can be considered a personal rationale for the world order. He debuted with a group exhibition at the István Pataky Cultural Centre in 1984. His work was included in the 2nd National Exhibition of Self-taught Gypsy Artists at the Museum of Ethnography in Budapest. He has participated in several group shows including “The Contemporary Gypsy Religious Art” (2003), “The Female Figure in Gypsy Art” (2005), as well as a series of thematic exhibitions organized by The Gypsy House. He lives and works in Budapest, Hungary.
Marcus-Gunnar Pettersson
Marcus-Gunnar Pettersson, born in 1987 in Arvika, is a Swedish illustrator educated in graphic design and illustration at Konstfack. In 2014, he debuted as a picture book illustrator with the books Dansbus & Kaktrubbel, Badbomber & Simhopp, and Camping & Kurragömma, as a part of the government’s Roma strategy to integrate Roma into society. The stories are set in the present day and have Roma children as the main characters. In 2015, the picture book Bosses Rymdäventyr, Bonnier Carlsenm was released by Petrus Dahlin with illustrations by Pettersson; that year, he also received the Albert Engström’s youth prize. In 2018, Pettersson debuted his own picture book Modig somm ett lejon, a humorous and detailed picture book with animal idioms written in verse. He lives and works in Arvika, Sweden. For more information, visit: www.marcusgunnar.se/
Emília Rigová, The Monument of Hope at Biennale Arte 2019
Emília Rigová (born 1980, Trnava) is a visual artist and university teacher based in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. In her graphics, installations, performances and site-specific interventions she works with the topic of cultural and social stereotypes and politics of the body. Rigová’s work focuses on minorities systematically eradicated from hegemonic historical discourses, collective memory and visions of common future. She works with the topic of constructions of Romani identity and cultural and political appropriation of the Romani body in Western culture. Rigová exhibits extensively and is also active as a writer and editor. She is laureate of the Oskár Čepan Award for young Slovak artists. Lives and works in Banská Bystrica (SK): www.emiliarigova.com/
Selma Selman NO SPACE 2019, FUTUROMA 2019
Selma Selman (born 1991 in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is an artist of Romani origin. Her work is representative of her life struggles and those of her community. Selman participated in Tania Bruguera’s International Summer Academy in Salzburg, “Arte Util” (Useful Arts) in 2013. She was a fellow of the Roma Graduate Preparation Program at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. In 2017 Selman received the prestigious “Zvono Award”, given to the best young artist in Bosnia and Herzegovina, winning her a residency in New York City. Selman holds an MFA from Syracuse University. Lives and works in the USA and Europe: www.selmanselma.com
Markéta Šestáková, FUTUROMA 2019
Markéta Šestáková was born in Rokycany, Pilson Region, Czech Republic, in 1952. After the death of her mother, Sestáková grew up in a children’s home, later rediscovering the world of the Roma, never to leave again. Since the mid-1990’s, she has devoted time to the traditional practice of embroidery. Sestáková’s hand-embroidered works depict Romani life as a pastoral idyll. The current problems that Roma face are not the subject of her work, but she is not oblivious to such concerns and has discussed them regularly in the Romani newspaper, Romano Hangos, published in Brno. She lives and works in České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
Dan Turner, FUTUROMA 2019
Dan Turner is an artist and educator from London, a Romani Gypsy born in 1956 in Kent, UK. Turner trained at St Martins School of Art, London, where he completed a BA Hons in Fine Art (Sculpture). Recently his art is concerned with changes in group identity and social cohesion. He uses traditional iconic objects to explore themes of transaction, scrutinising interactions between Romani and mainstream cultures. Dan has worked with the Wellcome Trust Reading Room and Chisenhale Art Place on collaborative projects which examine traditionally perceived ideas of Romani of luck and healing and how these experiences feed into collective memory. Lives and works in London, United Kingdom.
Alfred Ullrich, FUTUROMA 2019
Alfred Ullrich was born in 1948 in Schwabmünchen, Germany, to a Sinti family. He spent his childhood in Austria. Like many Austrian Roma, many of Ullrich’s family became victims of Nazi racial persecution. Reflections upon war and the social situation of his childhood form the source of his artistic inspiration. He employs various graphic techniques as well as creating objects and assemblages. Ullrich’s works are included in collections across Austria and Germany (Graphotek and Stadtbibliothek/Artothek in Berlin). He exhibits extensively, including the 2nd Roma Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Call the Witness in 2011. Ullrich is a member of the Artists Association Dachau and the BBK Munich and Upper Bavaria. Lives and works in Dachau, Germany.
László Varga, FUTUROMA 2019
László Varga was born in 1963, in Csenger, Hungary, to a Roma-Jewish family. Although he initially wanted to become a car mechanic, Varga realized early on that drawing and painting were the most interesting parts of his study curriculum. In his free time, Varga began to attend art classes, where he learned to draw and paint. Varga later attended courses for autodidacts at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in Budapest where he also learned the techniques of sculpture and printmaking. In 2006, Varga earned a degree in cultural management and film history at the Karolyi Gáspár University in Szombathely. He has since participated in several group exhibitions in Budapest, Hungary.
