Team

Tímea Junghaus is an art historian and contemporary art curator. She started in the position of Executive Director of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture in September 2017. Previously, Junghaus was Research Fellow of the Working Group for Critical Theories at the Institute for Art History at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2010-2017). She has researched and published extensively on the conjunctions of modern and contemporary art with critical theory, with particular reference to issues of cultural difference, colonialism, and minority representation. She is completing her Ph.D. studies in Cultural Theory at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest.

In recognition of her curatorial activities, Junghaus received the Kairos – European Cultural Price from the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S., in 2008. Her curatorial works include the Roma component of the Hidden Holocaust- exhibition in the Budapest Kunsthalle (2004), Paradise Lost – the First Roma Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Contemporary Art Biennale (2007), the Archive and Scholarly Conference on Roma Hiphop (2010), The Romani Elders and the Public Intervention for the Unfinished Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Murdered Under the National Socialist Regime in the frame of the 7th Berlin Biennale (2012), the (Re-)Conceptualizing Roma Resistance – exhibition and education program in Hellerau, Dresden (2015) and the Goethe Institute, Prague (2016). She is the curator of the Visual Arts Section for RomArchive – Digital Archive of the Roma, funded by Kulturstiftung des Bundes (2015-2018).

Junghaus was the founding director of Gallery8 – Roma Contemporary Art Space (www.gallery8.org) in Budapest (2013-2017), the winner of the 2014 Catalyst Contemporary Art Award (of Tranzit Hungary) and the 2014 Otto Pankok Prize awarded by the For Roma Foundation of German writer and Literary Nobel Laureate, Günter Grass.

Dr. Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka is an anthropologist and a Roma activist, born in 1985 in Cracow, Poland. She earned her Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in 2016. She holds an MA in European Integration from UAB and an MA in Comparative Studies of Civilizations from the Jagiellonian University in Cracow (UJ). She is the author of policy evaluations, reports, and articles, co-editor of the “Education for Remembrance of the Roma Genocide: Scholarship, Commemoration and the Role of Youth“ (Libron, 2015) and “Re-thinking Roma Resistance throughout History: Recounting Stories of Strength and Bravery” (ERIAC, 2020) and author of “Mobilizing Romani Ethnicity: Romani Political Activism in Argentina, Colombia, and Spain (CEU Press, 2022).

She has been an employee, member, founder, and collaborator of numerous Roma organisations in Poland and Spain. From 2008 to 2012 she was the European project coordinator at the Federation of Roma Associations in Catalonia (FAGIC). From 2013 to 2015 she was an Open Society Foundations Roma Initiatives Fellow, conducting a comparative study of the Roma associative movements in various countries of Latin America and Europe. From 2015 to 2017 she was the coordinator and curator of the Academic Section (aka. Roma Civil Rights Movement Section) in the RomArchive – Digital Archive of the Roma. Between 2017-2018 she was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow of the Romani Studies Program at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest. She serves as the deputy director of ERIAC since January 2018.

Emese Molnár is a sociologist by training with a professional interest and formation on the crossroads of intersecting fields from the more theoretical such as gender and equal opportunities studies, towards the more performative like art and activism. Between the years 2016-2018 she has been a fellow of the Hungarian-Argentinean exchange program of the Argentine Ministry of Education, doing a Master’s degree in Curatorial Studies in Visual Arts at the National University of Tres de Febrero (UNTREF) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a production assistant she participated in the organization, production and montage of the exhibition “Take Me, I´m Yours” curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Christian Boltanski in the framework of BIENALSUR, the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of South America organized by UNTREF in 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Part of her freelance curating endeavors includes a virtual photography exposition held at the KORUNK Gallery in Cluj Napoca, Romania in February 2021 (NY City Visions – Pre-COVID Places and Non-Places). She has been curator in residence at the Museumsquartier Vienna in April 2019, with the support of Tranzit Austria and Erste Stiftung, and beforehand she has contributed to the collective exhibition “100 Years of Parallel Dialouge”, reflecting on the transformative changes of the past decades that affected the different ethnic groups living together in the CEE region (Art Museum of Cluj, Romania in august 2018).

Emese comes from the field of social inclusion and empowerment, having worked 4 years at the Open Society Foundations in Budapest, Hungary. Within the Roma Initiatives program her greatest contribution was the organization of professional meetings and conferences around the theme of anti-gypsyism that paved the way to the founding of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC).

She participated in several socio-cultural development projects implemented by ITD / CEPS Projectes Sociales in Barcelona, Spain working on issues of migration, social participation, European capitals of culture and storytelling. In 2011 she was part of the organizing committee of the International Theatre Festival “Interferences” held at the Hungarian Theater in Cluj, Romania.

She joined ERIAC in August 2021 as Project Coordinator for the Roma Pavilion at the 59th Venice Art Biennale to be held between April and November 2022 and is also involved in RomaMOMA, which is a contemporary art project initiating a forum for collaborative reflection on a future Roma Museum of Contemporary Art.

Emese is based in Berlin, Germany.

Neven started his professional engagement in 2011 in the Finance sector in Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank, while in 2015 shifting to the administration and finances of the non-governmental sector on Roma inclusion issues. During his Erasmus+ experience gained at the Roma Decade Secretariat Foundation back in 2015, he professionally engaged in Roma topics. Originally from Varazdin, Croatia, Neven has been actively engaged for many years on various projects dealing with the economic aspect of social inclusion and youth participation at the local and regional levels. Neven has a BA in Management and an MA in Political Economy from the Berlin School of Economics and Law, where he specialized in socio-economic and macroeconomic policies. He graduated with the topic: Impact of austerity measures on Roma Inclusion in Western Balkans – Serbia and North Macedonia. During his studies, Neven was also professionally involved in smaller business entities in Varazdin. Besides his formal education, Neven has also participated in various seminars and educational trainings on the topic of monetary and economic policies, marketing, and collective bargaining.

Neven is based in Berlin, Germany.

Radu Sticlea is an initiator, art director, and artist with an educational background in Arts & Multimedia. His work journey is centered on highlighting contemporary culture from Central & Eastern Europe while researching and curating the New East – primarily focusing on emerging artists and experimental works from the CEE. As a cultural actor, he has established sustainable partnerships with several international institutions such as Creative Europe Desk, International Visegrad Fund, Romanian Cultural Institute, Canada Council for Arts, Lithuanian Culture Institute, Polish Film Institute, Estonian Contemporary Art Centre, Camões Institute, among others. Since January 2023, Radu has been appointed as the PR & Communications Officer for the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture.

Radu is based in Berlin, Germany.

Petro Rusanienko received his M.A. (with honors) from Kiev National University Theater’s Faculty of Cinema and Television of Karpenko-Kary with a specialty in TV and cinema acting. Throughout his acting career, Petro has appeared in roughly 100 cinematic and theatrical works, including performances at the most popular theatres in Kiev.

Due to Petro’s interest in the Roma community, he has organized the Roma Youth Forum, Ukraine’s largest cultural event for the Roma, and was awarded the Roma Pride Award for his contribution to Roma culture in Ukraine. Petro has dedicated his motivation and drive to studying at CEU, where he integrated Gender Studies into his profession and use his talent to create projects at the international level.

Petro is based in Berlin, Germany.

Since 2011, Claudiu embarked on his journey in the NGO sector as a volunteer, progressing to roles as a youth worker, assistant manager, and project manager. Engaging in over 50 projects funded by the European Union, he transitioned into the role of facilitator / trainer, a position he continues to hold to this day. Claudiu earned his bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Babes-Bolyai University. During his experience at Nevo Parudimos Association, he played a central role in instigating positive change within various communities and effectively coordinated diverse EU-funded projects. Within the same organization, he led the volunteer department, contributing to increase its capacity of the organization to work and accommodate volunteers, while enhancing the NGO’s reputation through impactful initiatives. Through years of experience in the NGO sector, Claudiu has improved his soft skills, enabling him to adapt to any situation and consistently deliver good results in both his work and activities.

Claudiu is based in Berlin, Germany.

Bratislav joined ERIAC Serbia in 2021 through a REF Internship program working as a graphic designer and communication officer. In April 2021, he became an Office Manager in ERIAC Serbia with the main task of running administrative tasks and leading logistics of the organization of cultural events and, within the ERIAC team, participated organization of large-scale cultural events. As an ERIAC’s RomaMoMA team member, Bratislav assisted in the project with the works of logistics and administration, as well as, graphic design. In 2023, he was promoted to the ERIAC Serbia Program Manager coordinating programs, projects, and events for ERIAC Serbia.

As of January 2024, Bratislav has taken on the role of Acting Executive Director at ERIAC Serbia, representing the organization in all external affairs and ensuring transparent communication, as well as managing day-to-day operations, financial oversight, and executing strategic decisions.

Bratislav earned his BA in Graphic Engineering and Design at the Faculty of Technical Science from the University of Novi Sad. During his studies, he participated in an entrepreneurship contest, organized by Junior Achievement Serbia, where he won second place in the Regional competition, qualifying for the National competition where he won third place.

Nadja Greku currently serves as the Program Manager at the ERIAC Serbia, having previously held the position of Grants Officer for the ERIACNET4EU project initiative. She holds an MA Degree in International Relations from the Central European University (CEU) Vienna, Austria and a BA in Sociology from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Nadja further enriched her educational background by participating in the Romani Studies program at CEU Budapest. Expanding her academic horizons, she undertook Princeton University courses in Global History and Research Methods, complemented by a study visit to Cambridge University. Her research focus centres on the governmentality and securitization dynamics affecting the Roma population. With substantial experience in economic and human development, Nadja has collaborated with international organizations such as the World Bank, Cambridge University and Regional Cooperation Council. She has authored a book chapter on Roma inclusion strategies and governmentality for the Roma Civil Monitor and written op-eds for publications including LeftEast and the European Roma Rights Centre, addressing issues such as anti-gypsyism, police brutality and Roma political engagement.

Nadja is based in Belgrade, Serbia.

Having a background in art history and cultural industries, Gabor has been active in the field of culture since 2011. He used to be a project assistant of the artist collective Space Detournement (Budapest, 2011), a research assistant of Budapest100 (2014), organizer-curator of Budapest Architecture Film Festival (Budapest, 2014-21), organizer-coordinator at the sociocultural center Budde-Haus (Leipzig, 2018-22) and a mobility coordinator at Nautas (Leipzig-Berlin, 2020-23). Besides his professional career, Gabor puts an emphasis on voluntary work, having supported various NGOs throughout the years, such as KEK – Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Center, Trafo – House of Contemporary Arts, DOKLeipzig, OFFBiennale, and Human Platform, among others.

Gabor is based in Berlin, Germany.