May 16 – Romani Resistance Day

We are loud. We remain silent. We protest. We perform. We bring our bodies to the streets. We hide away. We scream resistance, while we unlearn harmful practices of our upbringing. We stand alone. We form communities. Resistance may take different forms, but one truth remains immutable: we should all have the “Right to Respond”.

CORE – Drept la Replică

To remember and to practice every day acts of resistance, on the occasion of the International Day of Romani Resistance, ERIAC hosts a performative exercise, poetry, live music presented by the artist duo Cat Jugravu and Marcos Vivaldi.

CORE – Practicing Memory – reshapes the past to ignite the present. With this performative act, we bridge the chasms in his-story, thrusting forth voices that have been suppressed: queer and trans*-Romani spirits, raw and resolute, surge to the forefront of our collective consciousness. The tales of Roma queer kin are not absent; they are whispered, coded, and sung in hushed choruses that tremble in the shadows.

How to recover the many stories that have slipped through the cracks of history?

With|by Cat Jugravu

Marcos Vivaldi

Live Sound Engineering: Rey KM Domurat

Stage Management: Ali Bay

Production: QUEERDOS Kollektiv

Time: Thursday, May 16

11:00-13:00 Excavating Personal Memory: Resistance and Remembrance Culture

Creative Writing and Poetry Workshop by Cat Jugravu and Marcos Vivaldi

19:30 Berlin Tales

Welcome and guided tour of the exhibition

20:00 CORE-Drept la Replică

Performance by Cat Jugravu and Marcos Vivaldi

CAT JUGRAVU

is a non-binary theatre director, poet, performer, and researcher of Romanian-Romani descent, working at the intersection of affective memory and remembrance, trans*-queer history excavation, and the subsequent archiving of theories and practices through applied theatre methodology. As the founder and artistic co-director of QUEERDOS Kollektiv in Berlin, they initiate projects with a strong focus on gender-based violence, abuse, community, and memory politics.

Since 2022, Cat has been part of the Rom*nja in Power Theaterkollektiv Berlin and since 2021 one of the founders of DePART Collective.

In March 2024, they were awarded the Gen Divers Preis Mozarteum for their master graduation piece DIONYSOS. MADNESS POURS UPON MY LOVELY FACE, and together with their colleagues from the DePART Collective received the Bertha Artivism Award for their project on active-remembrance and the Porajmos, titled IF ALL EARS COULD HEAR.

MARCOS VIVALDI

is a multidisciplinary artist formed in classical saxophone, opera singing and writing (écriture). His academic parcours started in Argentina at the Universidad Nacional de las Artes in Buenos Aires and finished in France at Conservatoire de Lyon. He composes and arranges musical pieces for contemporary dance shows, theatre and performance art works, focus on LGBTQIA+ topics and queer culture but not only. He carries out experimental projects on sound exploration and conducts research on the ethical use of AI in music.

His musical commissions were performed at Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles (Belgium), Théâtre de Liège (Belgium), Théâtre de la Ville de Paris (France), Théâtre Joliette (Marseille, France), Conciergerie de Paris, among others.

Creative Writing and Poetry Workshop at ERIAC

Excavating Personal Memory: Resistance and Remembrance Culture

May 16, International Romani Resistance Day

Dear Rom*nja and Sint*izze community members,

On May 16, Romani Resistance Day, we are pleased to extend an invitation to a creative writing and poetry workshop with artist duo Cat Jugravu and Marcos Vivaldi. This workshop, based on the spoken word performance piece “CORE: Drept la Replica”, is a deeper look into the artists’ creative process and aims to explore the excavation of personal memory in relation to the themes of resistance and remembrance culture.

Drawing from Fatima El-Tayeb’s poignant inquiry into the dynamics of collective memory in “European Others,” and reflecting on active remembrance and resistance as an essential practice, the session aims to question, challenge, and creatively engage with our history. This workshop is about recalling the past and ensuring that these memories resonate meaningfully in our contemporary lives.

Workshop Details:

Date: Thursday, May 16
Time: 11:00 – 13:00
Location: ERIAC Berlin, Reinhardtstraße 41-43

Overview: During the workshop, participants will engage in introspective exercises and explore different writing formats, such as poetry, letters, manifestos, and fragments. Through these creative mediums, we will translate emotional approaches to disappearing histories into words and sounds.

Objectives:

Investigate the concept of active remembrance.
Reflect on individual positions when dealing with shadow histories.
Explore how everyday practices can become acts of active remembrance.
Discuss the role of communities in carrying out practices of resistance
Examine the use of art, activism, and academic work to remember those who have resisted

Participation: The workshop is free of charge and no prior writing experience is necessary. Participants are encouraged to come with an open mind and a willingness to share their thoughts and experiences. We also welcome non-Roma peers to attend.

Evening Performance: Following the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to share their writings in the same evening during the performance “CORE: Drept la Replica”, accompanied by Cat Jugravu and Marcos Vivaldi, starting at 8 pm.

Facilitators: Cat Jugravu and Marcos Vivaldi

RSVP by 12 May, 2024 by sending a mail to emese.molnar (at) eriac (dot) org

The performance and live music is part of “Berlin Tales-The Margins Strikes Back” event series organized by ERIAC and supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion of the State of Berlin.

Image credits: Simon Niebel