Tag Archives: Art

Europe News Eastern Europe Poland

Auschwitz Paintings

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Auschwitz Paintings

 Dina Gottliebova Babbitt was forced to create watercolors of Roma prisoners for Nazi physician Josef Mengele during the Holocaust, and she spent her life trying to reclaim these artworks from a museum.

Despite her efforts, the museum has refused to return the paintings, citing their historical significance and legal acquisition.

Babbitt’s daughters are now pursuing legal action to retrieve the artwork, highlighting the ongoing debate over art created under duress during the Holocaust.

Austria News Western Europe

Chris the Painter

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Chris the Painter

Chris the Painter, also known as Christian Dumitrasku, creates diverse artworks, including portraits and depictions of Roma musicians, from his studio in Vienna.

He emphasizes the importance of remembering the history of the Roma community, particularly the Holocaust, and engages with his social media followers for inspiration and feedback.

Despite facing discrimination online, Chris remains committed to his art and aims to educate others about Roma culture and history through his work and future exhibitions.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Bari Balvaj

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Bari Balvaj

The Bari Balvaj! festival aims to promote Roma art to a wider audience and is hosted at the East Slovak Gallery, a significant cultural venue in the region.

The festival will feature various performances, including traditional Romani music and dance workshops, highlighting the importance of cultural diversity in the Košice region.

The event is open to everyone, encouraging participation and appreciation of Romani culture without prejudice, while also targeting Romani audiences.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Roma in Hungary

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Roma in Hungary

Norbert Olah, a Roma artist from Hungary, initially avoided stating his Roma heritage in his art due to fear of being labeled as a ‘Roma artist’ and facing stereotypes about Roma culture.

As Hungary’s political climate shifted under Viktor Orbán, Olah began to confront issues of identity, exclusion, and the impact of political rhetoric on the Roma community through his artwork, including a notable installation at the Budapest Off-Biennale.

Following a change in government, there is cautious optimism for improved conditions for Roma in Hungary, but Olah remains realistic about the slow pace of change and continues to explore themes of identity and social mobility in his future projects.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Exhibition

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Exhibition

If you happen to visit Poland in the upcoming months, “Weś gilaweł / The forest Is singing”, an exhibition of works by Małgorzata Mirga-Tas dedicated to the memory of the Romani genocide, has just opened in Zakopane and will be on display until 31 January.

Austria News Western Europe

ReIMAGINE

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ReIMAGINE

EDUCULT, based in Vienna, is working on the ‘ReIMAGINE’ project to diversify European memory culture, focusing on the history and experiences of the Roma community.

The project involves collaboration with partners from five European countries and aims to create innovative educational tools, including a board game dedicated to Roma heroes.

‘ReIMAGINE’ will develop an interactive training toolkit for educators to present diverse historical perspectives and is supported by the EU’s Erasmus+ program until 2027.

Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Slovakia

Berlin Exhibition

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Berlin Exhibition

The exhibition “You Are All Our Children in One” opens at the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture in Berlin, exploring the ongoing impact of racial classification and forced sterilization on Roma and Sinti communities post-World War II.

Slovak artist Emília Rigová, who works under the pseudonym Bári Raklóri [Big (non-Romani) Girl], presents her work addressing the suppression of Roma identity through installations and performance art, including a piece on the forced sterilization of Roma women in Czechoslovakia.

Rigová shares her personal connection to the issue, revealing that her mother was sterilized without consent, which deeply affected her childhood and emotional world, highlighting the broader historical trauma faced by women in similar situations.

Germany News Western Europe

Exhibition

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Exhibition

The exhibition “The Thread That Holds” by Romnja artist Luna De Rosa opens on July 22, 2026, at Halle 116, focusing on exclusion, discrimination, and anti-Roma stereotypes.

This is the first art exhibition in the newly created space, commemorating the Porajmos, the genocide of Sinti and Roma during the Nazi regime, which remains underrecognized.

The event includes a moderated discussion with the artist and musical accompaniment, and the exhibition runs from July 22 to October 4, 2026, with free admission during regular hours.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

ARA Fest

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ARA Fest

From Thursday, July 2 to Saturday, July 4, Pilsen will become the venue for the jubilee 10th year of the multi-genre art festival of Roma culture ARA FEST. The program will offer concerts, theater, an exhibition, community activities for children and youth and a festival tram with live music.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Art Camp

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Art Camp

The Herényiek Házában art camp in Hungary, initiated by the Szombathely Roma National Self-Government, has become an annual celebration of art and community since its inception in 2015, supported by local government.

Artists from across the country gather to collaborate and learn from each other, fostering dialogue between Roma and Hungarian communities, with this year’s theme focusing on Plein air art. Local officials, including the deputy mayor, expressed support for the initiative, highlighting its importance in promoting quality cultural programs outside the city center.

News Western Europe United Kingdom

London Exhibition

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London Exhibition

The Museum of Homelessness (MOH), part gallery, part support hub, part perennial meadow, is hosting an exhibition entitled ‘ Criminal: An Untold Story of Homelessness, Resistance and Survival.’ which maps 400 years of criminalisation of homelessness and nomadic lives, with 10 Foot, Matt Bonner, Spelling Mistakes Cost Lives, and Surfing Sofas, in an exhibition that was co-curated and built by MOH’s members.

Denmark Greece News Western Europe

Małgorzata Mirga-Tas

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Małgorzata Mirga-Tas

An article in the Greek press on the Romani artist Małgorzata Mirga-Tas about her current exhibition in Copenhagen.

With Polish citizenship and Roma origins, visual artist and activist Małgorzata Mirga-Tas is one of Europe’s most important and freshest contemporary artistic voices. Born in 1978, the artist represented Poland at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, becoming the first Roma artist ever to participate with national representation in the event.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Artist Workshop in Bulgaria

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Artist Workshop in Bulgaria

The Bulgarian artist Rada Tsankova, who has lived and worked in Paris for 30 years, arrives in Bulgaria to open two retrospective exhibitions – today, February 17 in Sofia at the new space “Monument” and on February 23 at the “Papillon” gallery in Varna.

As part of her tour of her natve country, she will hold several workshops. One of them with Roma on February 20th. The artist will hold a creative workshop with the Music Instead of the Street Association, which helps children of Roma origin or in difficult financial situations to have access to classical music. The association was founded by the world-famous Sliven violinist of Roma origin Georgi Kalaidzhiev. The focus of Tsankova and the children’s joint work is “How to Present Music Through Visual Art”.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Spain

Sally Cortes

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Sally Cortes

“The first step must be taken by oneself – to believe that one can achieve everything one dreams of,” says Romani writer and activist Sally Cortés in an interview.

France News Western Europe

Art and Roma

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Art and Roma

An interview with art historian, art critic (she won the AICA prize in 2023) and curator, Elora Weill-Engerer. She is publishing “Le jour lui n’a qu’un jour. Sept textes sur Ceija Stojka” [The day has only one day: seven texts about Čeja Stijka. this fall and is curator of the exhibition “Les Rois morts” [Dead Kings] at the Suzanne Tarasieve gallery in Paris (until August 2). She is currently preparing, under the supervision of Elvan Zabunyan and Pierre Wat, a doctoral thesis at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne on the

The later part, unfortunately, reflects the lack of knowledge in France about Roma and the still prevailing stereotypes.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Bratislava: Exhibition

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Bratislava: Exhibition

The exhibition “Colour World – Coloriskeri luma” opened on Thursday in the Baroque courtyard of the University Library in Bratislava (UKB). It presents works from the 17th national art competition organized by the civic association Romano Kher – Roma House with the aim of improving communication between the majority and the Roma national minority. The theme of this year’s competition, which brings together Roma children and children from the majority society, was Roma traditions – baptism, wedding, funeral.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria, Zaharna Fabrika, and Art

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Bulgaria, Zaharna Fabrika, and Art

The interdisciplinary cultural project “Dom” presents the reality of marginalized children in Bulgaria through the means of painting and video. The project is of a documentary nature, and the goal is to draw attention to the impact of the social environment on children and the place they occupy in it.

Initially, the fields of research were the Roma Mahalas in Svoge and Stolipinovo in Plovdiv, but after the events surrounding the destroyed houses in the “Zaharna Fabrika” district in Sofia, where Roma houses were recently destroyed, they decided to include them in their project.

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