5/4/2013
Romanistan
Different venues, Berlin
Crossing Spaces in Europe. Romanistan seeks to explore the central question of the relationship between cultural identity and cultural production. An international symposium, a theatre production, a music project, an exhibition on the problematic nature of the visual representation of Roma.
Within current discourse on Europe and the European crisis the voices of minorities –
particularly those of Europe’s largest minority, the Roma – go largely unheard. “Roma” are
widely portrayed in the media as a homogenous group while an alternative perspective that
acknowledges individuals seems scarcely imaginable. Inherited resentments continue to provide
a breeding ground for virulent antiziganism and contribute to social segregation as well as day-
to-day discrimination in the fields of education, work and property. Owing to restrictive
immigration policies, Roma continue to be stigmatised and are left on the sidelines of a crisis-
stricken Europe.
For all these reasons cultural production by Romnija and Roma is often regarded as mere
folklore. Looking beyond ethnicised and romanticised stereotypes, the international cultural
initiative “ROMANISTAN. Crossing Spaces in Europe” has been dedicated to the “de-
exoticisation” of Roma artists and their work since 2011.
Following initial conferences in Vienna
(2011) and Barcelona (2012) ROMANISTAN will seek to explore the central question of the
relationship between cultural identity and cultural production. It will take place across various
locations in Berlin, opening with an international symposium, and featuring a theatre production,
a music project, an exhibition on the problematic nature of the visual representation of Roma,
and a closing conference in association with the “Herdelezi Roma Cultural Festival”.
At the heart of this wide-ranging programme lie complex themes; the interplay between self-
perception and preconceived assumptions about culture, the significance of one’s own
language, the opportunities and implications of cultural education, inclusion and empowerment,
and the development and promotion of cultural diversity.
The participating Roma artists and
cultural producers do not represent the avant-garde of an ethnocentric Roma movement; rather
they are protagonists in a current and relevant socio-political debate. Social mechanisms such
as ethnicism, exoticism and cultural homogenisation will be examined through the filter of
cultural theory and the arts – on the one hand as a contribution to the existing dialogue and in
support of an alternative perspective, on the other, to provide a means towards establishing
emancipation.
“ROMANISTAN. Crossing Spaces in Europe” was initiated in 2010 by the IG Kultur Österreich
and will be realised as a co-operation activity as part of the Culture Programme of the European
Union up until 2013 with three Roma organisations from three different countries: the Roma
Kulturzentrum in Vienna, the FAGiC in Barcelona and Amaro Drom in Berlin.
Sponsors
Hauptstadtkulturfonds, Allianz Kulturstiftung, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Kulturamt
Neukölln, Österreichisches Kulturforum, Senatsverwaltung für Arbeit, Integration und Frauen.
With the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union
Co-operative Partners
Amaro Drom e.V., IG Kultur Österreich, Roma Kulturzentrum Wien, FAGiC Barcelona, Neue
Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, SO36.
Artistic Direction and Organisation
Amaro Drom e.V.: Lith Bahlmann, Georgel Caldararu, André J. Raatzsch and Slaviša Marković.
Programme Details
6.4.2013, 10 am – 5 pm
CASINO So sar khana thaj khaj Dikhas? // Does what we see depend on where we look?
Interdisciplinary conference on Roma cultural protagonism vs. imposed “folklorism” and Roma cultural
industrialisation
With: Rahim Burhan, director, founder of the Roma Theatre PRALIPE, Neuss; Ines Busch, sociologist,
Hamburg; Georgel Caldararu, author and musician, Berlin; Prof. Ismet Jašarević, musician and managing
director of CAIR (Centre for Affirmation and Integration of Roma Community), Zemun / Belgrade; Slaviša
Marković, director and actor, leader of the Rroma Aether Klub Theater, Berlin; Moritz Pankok, artistic director
of the gallery Kai Dikhas, Berlin; André J. Raatzsch, artist and cultural theorist, Berlin and Budapest; Dotschy
Reinhardt, musician and author, Berlin; Harri Stojka, musician, Vienna; Teodora Tabački, philosopher and anti-
war activist, Berlin, Brussels and Paris
Welcome and Introduction: Lith Bahlmann, curator and author, Berlin
Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, Oranienstraße 25, 10999 Berlin
Event in German
Free admission
6.4.2013, 6 – 7.30 pm
Film screening “Gypsy Spirit, Harri Stojka – A Journey”
Austria/India 2010, 88 min, Dir.: Klaus Hundsbichler
Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, Oranienstraße 25, 10999 Berlin
Free admission
6.4.2013, from 9 pm
Concert “Festival of the Music of the Oppressed”
Harri Stojka and Band, Vienna; Dotschy Reinhardt Quartett, Berlin; Ansamblul Oltenilor din Berlin; Slobodan
Savić and Band, Berlin
Presented by Filiz Demirova
SO36, Oranienstraße 190, 10999 Berlin
Admission 15 Euro, conc. 10 Euro
20.4. – 2.6.2013
Opening: 19.4.2013, 6 pm
Exhibition “The Roma Image Studio”
Critical artists’ platform on the representation and depictions of European Roma in visual media
Curated by André J. Raatzsch in collaboration with Lith Bahlmann and Emese Benkö
Participating artists: Norbert Tihanics, Nihad Nino Pušija, András Kállai, Henrik Kállai, Judit M. Horváth, György
Stalter, Diana Arce and Gábor Áfrány
With contributions from: The Studio Museum Harlem, N.Y., USA; Ethnografisches Museum, Budapest;
Magnum Photos; The Hulton Getty Picture Collection, getty images international; Moritz Pankok – Galerie Kai
Dikhas; Péter Szuhay, Open Society Archives, Budapest.
Galerie im Saalbau Neukölln, Karl-Marx-Straße 141, 12043 Berlin
Opening hours: Tues–Sun 10 am – 8 pm
Free admission
20.4. 6 pm
Literature workshop: Reading with József Choli Daróczi and Gusztáv Nagy from Das Buch der
Ränder: Roma-Lyrik aus Ungarn (The book of Frontiers: Roma Lyricism from Hungary)
Galerie im Saalbau Neukölln, Karl-Marx-Straße 141, 12043 Berlin
Event in German
Free admission
Within the framework of the exhibition “The Roma Image Studio”
21.4., 6 pm
Film screenings: Documentaries and short films by Norbert Tihanics and Henrik Kállai
Kállai: Kis cigány (The Little Rom, HU 1996, 9 min); Disznóvágás (Pig Slaughter, HU 2000, 14 min);
Cigánybánat (The Roma Affliction, HU 1999 – 2000, 60 min). Norbert Tihanics : A paraszt (The Farmer, HU
2012, 20 min); Epilógus (The Epilogue, HU 2009, 5:05 min)
Galerie im Saalbau Neukölln, Karl-Marx-Straße 141, 12043 Berlin
Free admission
exhibition “The Roma Image Studio”
26.4.–7.6.
Opening: 24.6., 7 pm
Roma Renaissance, an Artistic Manifesto
Presentations by the International Artists’ Workshop
Galerie Kai Dikhas, Aufbau Haus am Moritzplatz, Prinzenstraße 85 D, 10969 Berlin
Opening hours: Tues–Sat 12–7 pm
Free admission
Within the framework of the exhibition “The Roma Image Studio”
30.4., 6 pm
Lecture by Diana Arce and André J. Raatzsch
Lecture on the initiative and exhibition THE ROMA IMAGE STUDIO in relation to Harlem Studio Museum N.Y.,
and The Arab Image Foundation, Beirut
Galerie im Saalbau Neukölln, Karl-Marx-Straße 141, 12043 Berlin
Free admission
Within the framework of the exhibition “The Roma Image Studio”
11.5.2013, from 2 pm
Herdelezi Roma Cultural Festival
Boddinstraße, 12045 Berlin
Free admission
11.5. and 31.5.2013, each 8 pm
Theatre “Marktplatzgeschichten – Geschichtenmarkt” (Marketplace Stories – Story Market)
Directed by Slaviša Marković
Rroma Aether Klub Theater, Boddinstraße 5, 12045 Berlin
Admission 12 Euro, conc. 7,50 Euro
11.5.2013, 10 pm
CD Release Party with Ansamblul Oltenilor din Berlin
Rroma Aether Klub Theater, Boddinstraße 5, 12045 Berlin
Free admission
11.5. and 12.5.2013
Thank you for Flying Romanistan. International closing conference
The conference will explore the question of how far EU culture projects go in bringing about meaningful
changes in society and how the realities experienced in this project correlate to the targets of the EU Roma
Strategy 2020.
With: Ljubomir Bratić; Pedro Aguilera; Teodora Tabački; representatives of the NGOs in Barcelona, Berlin and
Vienna and other guests.
11.5.2013, 10 am to 2 pm: Rroma Aether Klub Theater, Boddinstraße 5, 12045 Berlin
12.5.2013, 10 am to 6 pm: Werkstatt der Kulturen, Wissmannstraße 32, 12049 Berlin
Free admission
Press Contact
Denhart v. Harling . segeband.pr . dh@segeband.de . T: +49 179 4963497