Exhibition of community artworks made by students and alumni of the CEU Roma Access Programs and Matej Bel University
The exhibition is thematically connected to the celebration of the International Roma Day which falls on April 8, and it presents original works by the students and alumni of the Roma Access Programs and of the Slovak Roma students from Matej Bel University. In our view, the International Roma Day is a celebration, a festive event, but it is not limited to that. We perceive it also as an event with a political dimension. Therefore, the workshop that brought us together to produce artwork for this exhibition was conceived as a celebration, a pleasant time spent together by reflecting on Roma identity, everyday life and history. Simultaneously, the exhibition seeks to invoke dialogue with the viewer about these topics.
The prompt Remember, Retell, Reclaim hints at the activities we engaged in and simultaneously it is our message to the audience concerning representation of the historical events. The themes that we developed for the workshop sought to surface our individual, idiosyncratic ideas, feelings and stories as well as similarities among us. The workshop led us to create works from the position of an individual, a member of (a) Romani family/ies, a member of Romani (in)formal groups, and a descendant of a lineage of people. We reflected on songs we love and we shared stories that are connected with them. We discussed the nature and significance of the celebratory and memorial events like International Roma Day and the WWII Roma genocide remembrance and honoured the victims by staging ourselves into one-minute statues. Lastly, we thought about the place that feels like home, notwithstanding whether it is our parents' place, actual place of residence, or imagined place, whether it is a home or place outside.
Collaborators and authors:
Marina Csikós, Roma English Language Program
Ebru Ertaş, Roma English Language Program
Arman Heljić, MA Gender studies program
Marinela Isuf, Roma English Language Program
János Jeri, Roma English Language Program
Yulian Kondur, Roma Graduate Preparation Program
Nikola Ludlová, MA History program
Emília Rigová, Pedagogical Faculty, Matej Bel University
Jelena Savić, MA Philosophy program
Denis Vaitsekhovskii, Roma English Language Program
The workshop and exhibition was supported by and organized in coordination with the Roma Access Programs and the Center for Art and Culture and the Pedagogical Faculty of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica in Slovakia.