Tate Britain has today announced that Romani artist Delaine Le Bas is one of the four artists who have been shortlisted for the prestigious Turner Prize in 2024, its 40th year.
Well Done!
The deputy and mayor of Brno’s Černovice, Petra Quittová (STAN) made derogatory comments about a Roma family. Now many ask for her resignation. She still refuses.
She was answering questions in the municipal council on a house that is now inhabited by a Roma family. Quittová responded that the house was sold through a real estate agency, the sellers were a couple she knows personally. “They sold it to…, yes, to people, um, others, I don’t know how to say it now, simply to Roma, whom we got rid of, whom we got rid of a few years ago from Staré Černovice, who moved to Slavkov near Brno, and these people simply bought it from our people, whom I know, because they gave the highest bid,” said the mayor.
A local project in a Roma settlement saw the creation of a “hygiene centre”, a place where the residents of the settlement can come, take a shower, wash clothes etc. They have set up washing machines. In brief all sort of amenities that do not exist there.
An article on the local government of Bujanovac, an ethnically mixed town in Kosovo. The article bemoans the absence of Roma representatives in the assembly, which in addition is boycotted by the Serbs.
A sad story of what nationalism does to the Balkans.
An article in the Polish Vogue on the W Stronę Dialogu Foundation campaign aimed at expanding knowledge about the Roma community in Poland and increasing its visibility in our country. People of different ages, different genders, living in different parts of Poland and representing different professions will take part in it.
An interesting article about integration of Roma in Slovak schools. Most non-Roma parents would prefer Roma to be in segregated schools. This is precisely what the recent research of the Centre for Environmental and Ethical Education Živica and the non-profit organization Teach, co-financed by the EU, addressed. He revealed some interesting things, namely that the majority of the public have no problem with their children going to class with a child from socially excluded communities. However, they are convinced that it would be best for Roma children to be educated in separate classes or even schools.
For as long as this attitude prevails, it will be difficult to de-segregate schools.
Two very different articles about Roma in Slovenia. One about a brawl between Roma in a town, the other, about children in a Roma (segregated?) kindergarten cleaning up the surroundings.
A video on a talk about Jerzy Ficowski, a Polish author and Romologue.
In its latest report, Amnesty criticised Slovakia for its discrimination against Roma. Specially, they also drew attention on cases of police brutality against Roma.
Another article in AP on the opening of the Lety memorial.
Amnesty criticised the Czech Republic for the discrimination faced by Ukrainians and for the school segregation for Roma. The latter has not improved over the last 20 years.
Many articles in the Czech press about the inauguration of the Lety Memorial in presence of the Czech president Petr Pavel.
An editorial on discrimination of Roma in Czechia, but also on the comparison to other European states such as Germany and Spain. Conclusion is, well, while in other states discrimination does exist, at least it is being fought again. While in Czechia …
The memorial in Lety u Písek is being opened. It will commemorate the persecution and murder of the Roma population during the Second World War.
Roma NGOs from Kosovo and Serbia are collaborating all the while the respective majority populations are increasingly at odd.
Dr. Tsvetan Tsenkov, the Mayor of the Vidin municipality, has decided to move the 8 polling stations that traditionally were located in the Roma neighbourhood of Nov Pat, to other parts of town. According to the mayor, this is to prevent irregularities and voter manipulation.
Well, it will also prevent man Roma from voting…
An editorial on the disastrous conditions faced by some segregated Roma settlements in Slovakia. The author cites that it is totally unacceptable that people live in conditions of the 15th (sic!) century. He also states that nothing has been done in the last 20 years, and that segregated education is not acceptable either.
An article in the Italian press about the role of Roma in the Italian resistance during the fascist era. Their contribution was not recognised and forgotten.
After the announcement by Volvo that in their new factory in Eastern Slovakia they will employ Roma, the Slovak Government is pitching in … Fact is, the car industry will need up to 25’000 new workers, and the Volvo factory needs 7’500 by itself. This will not be possible without Roma.
A new book of Romani Tales from the former Czechoslovakia originally recorded by Milena Hübschmannová, a well-known Romologue, was just published in Czechia. In contrast to older books of Roma tales that were extremely successful in Czechoslovakia in the 60s and 70s, these tales were not severely edited to make them more “palatable” to a non-Romani audience. This newer book present stories that are thus quite different. Raw, dishevelled, expressive; disorganized, full of digressions, the irregular structure sometimes makes readers dizzy.
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