The festival Romane Dyvesa will start on July 7th in Gorzow Wielkopolski. Poland, with Roma musicians from Serbia, France, Poland and other countries.
The International Days of Roma Culture are celebrated in Krakow for the twelfth time with Roma from various parts of Europe came. Concerts and exhibitions will bring Krakow’s inhabitants closer to the culture that has become overgrown with many myths. To see what it really is like, it is worth visiting Nowa Huta on July 1 and 2.
Another article, this time in the Polish press about Małgorzata Mirga-Tas’ exhibition in Berlin. The host of the exhibition is the famous Brücke Museum, presenting only Expressionist painters associated in the early 20th century in the group “Die Brücke”. Małgorzata Mirgi-Tas’s exhibition “Sivdem Amenge. I sewed for us” is an artistic dialogue with selected artists of this group. But not only.
The article states that Małgorzata Mirga-Tas is currently the most famous contemporary Polish visual artist in the world.
The Romani artist is having an exhibition in Berlin and gave an interview to TaZ.
The Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Skonieczny is directing a new movie set in Wrocław, a city he knows well, featuring a young skateboarder who falls in love with a Romni and is confronted with the prejudice against Roma. Both key actors are new to filming, and are supported by a cast of well know actors.
An estimated 400,000 lived in Ukraine before the Russian invasion. A quarter fled the war-torn country. Many went to Poland. Władysław Kwiatkowski, president of the Roma Association in Poland, stated in an interview that “Not everyone in Poland realizes that many Roma fight in the ranks of the Ukrainian army. They defend their country. They are citizens of Ukraine, just like the rest”.
Dr. Małgorzata Kołaczek from the Foundation for Dialogue – one of the authors of the report “Human rights, and discrimination – the situation of Roma refugees from Ukraine in Poland. Report on research and intervention activities” Said:
“The Roma, like other Ukrainians, lose their life possessions, husbands and fathers at the front, and yet they are treated differently – as if their pain and suffering were less. As it happens in a situation of uncertainty and danger, the lowest human instincts are activated, which are directed towards those whom one “always” dislikes “.
The 12th International Days of Roma culture will take place in Krakow on July 1 and 2, in Łąki Nowohuckie. We will visit a former Roma camp, see museum wagons, ethnographic exhibits, an exhibition of paintings and photographs. On the outdoor stage, traditional dances will be presented by artists from Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Great Britain, Poland and France.
Unfortunately, some of the kitsch and stereotypes are presented here …
Adam Bartosz, a Polish Roma activist, will become an honorary citizen of the city of Tarnów on Friday. The decision to grant him such a title was made on Thursday by the Tarnów councillors in recognition of Adam Bartosz’s outstanding merits for the Republic of Poland and the community of the city of Tarnów, related to the extraordinary commitment to the cultural development and activities for the development and popularization of research on multicultural history of Tarnów, including the history of Roma and Jews.
A reportage on a Roma settlement in Poznan, Poland. The Roma community has been living in that area of at Lechicka Street for many years. In an area of several hectares, they try to cope as best they can. “It’s hard here. It’s hard to keep clean. We are poor, but we have small children, so it must be clean everywhere,” says Veta, one of the residents, pointing to the carpeted ground.
Despite the early hour, the sun made itself felt. The weather doesn’t bother Ecatarina, who drinks her pickle outside. She is wearing a patterned ankle-length dress and a thick sweater with a zipper. Her gray hair is covered with a colourful scarf. – Every day I get up at 7. I drink coffee and prepare food for my grandchildren – describes the woman. “Then I’m going to fetch water to wash up and do the laundry.” I take a cart that holds four canisters. I do everything by hand because we don’t have a washing machine. I go begging. I’m not lying. I know it’s forbidden, but I have no other choice. We need food and hygiene products.
Residents of the small city of Krasnystaw, Southeast of Lublin and close to the Ukrainian border, are complaining about Roma refugees who, according to them, are making the city unsafe. Upon closer reading, this boils down to petty theft of food, and small incidents.
The thefts indicate that they probably do not have enough money to survive otherwise, as Poland does not really provide much help to refugees.
The Nikifor Museum in Krynica, in eastern Poland, invites to the exhibition entitled “Coloured cars are coming. Caravan in memory and artistic creation of the Roma”, composed of exhibits collected by the ethnographer Paweł Lechowski. The opening of the collection of paintings and drawings took place on Friday, May 26.
On Tuesday, Roma representatives commemorated Roma inmates in Auschwitz who, 79 years ago, rebelled in the so-called Zigeunerlager, which is part of the German KL Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
“Today we celebrate the 79th anniversary of the Roma rebellion. On May 16, 1944, one of the most heroic events during the functioning of KL Auschwitz-Birkenau took place in this area. (…) Today, by laying wreaths and lighting candles at the monument to the murdered Roma, we pay tribute to all the heroes of that day and honour the memory of those murdered here,” said Władysław Kwiatkowski from the Roma Association in Poland.
May 16th, 1944, Roma concentration camp inmates started an uprising against the wardens in Auschwitz. The “Zigeunerlager” was definitively closed on August 2nd of that year.
The District Museum in Nowy Sącz, Poland, is presenting an exhibition consisting of exhibits collected by Paweł Lechowski, an ethnographer who has been continuously interested in Roma culture since the 1960s. Thanks to his collection showcases the life of travelling Roma for those who know travels only from the stories of the older generation.
Right after the congress of the International Catholic Committee for Roma in Prague on April 24, Fr. Stanisław Opocki – the national Roma chaplain and a member of the Polish Episcopate Commission for Migrants – went to Lviv to support the emerging Roma pastoral care there. Using Polish experience in this area, he assured that he would support the creation of similar structures and work on the educational needs of the Roma in Ukraine.
Apparently, it is never too late for the church.
The Polish stand up performer recently made jokes about Roma of Limanowa. They told him he would not be welcome, but he nevertheless went, leading to protests.
Again, as usual, racist statements and jokes about Roma do not receive the same treatment as for other minorities.
The Provincial Vojevode office of Lodz organized a conference devoted to the situation of Roma children in schools. In its course, cultural and historical issues were often referred to. There was also a presentation of the achievements of the most talented Roma.
Erwin Brzeziński, is a Roma painter who started early at the age of 6.. His work is at a border between imagination and reality. Each of the works focuses on a man and each shows a fragment of Roma culture to the viewer.
Viki Gabor appeared with her parents in the weekend studio “Questions for Breakfast”, where she promoted the documentary “Viki Gabor: My World”. The 8-episode documentary series tells the story of an ordinary, though extraordinary, 15-year-old girl who, thanks to her passion and talent, has developed from a shy, introverted girl into a successful idol of the young generation. The camera accompanies Viki during concerts, foreign trips, but also in everyday life.
On the occasion of April 8th, the City of Poznań, in cooperation with the Bahtałe Roma Foundation, organized a meeting with Roma culture in the White Room of the office. There was music and performance by the Sara Czureja Band.
From March 31, two open-air exhibitions will be open to visitors on the Market Square in Nakło in central Poland: “The Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in Europe” and “The Holocaust of the Roma from Wyrzysk County”.
“The Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in Europe” is an exhibition prepared by the Institute of National Remembrance and made available by the Institute of National Remembrance Regional Office in Bydgoszcz.
The exhibition “Extermination of the Roma from Wyrzysk Poviat” was prepared by the Museum of Krajeńskie Land on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the deportation of the Roma to the Birkenau concentration camp.
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