Author Archive for Olia Yatskevich
A new web blog covering the situation of Kosovar Roma was launched this week. The authors aim to post on the Roma in Kosovo and Kosovo Roma in Diaspora. The web site contains useful links for those who interested to know more about the situation in the region.
The first Roma settlements in Kosovo can be traced to 1394 (Prizren). The Roma Mahala in Kosovska Mitrovica believed to be one of the largest and oldest in the region. Roma community had their own newspapers and theater. Before the conflicted started, Kosovo was home for appr. 130,000 Roma.
During the war a lot of Roma left the area (Serbia, Montenegro, as well as Western Europe) or became internally displaced (IDPs). Those who remain in Kosovo live in poor condition and do not participate in social and political life of the society. Kosovar Roma are not represented at negotiations on Kosovo status.
If you interested in the situation of Roma in Kosovo, be it active participation or news update, keep your eye on Kosovo Roma Website.
The European Roma Information Office (ERIO) and the Centro Don Calabria (Italy) are organizing a seminar on social inclusion of Roma in Brussels from 29 to 31 of January 2008. The seminar aims at discussing patterns of social exclusion faced by Roma and exchanging good practices for promoting their inclusion . It is also aimed at stimulating dialogue and networking among organisations and institutions that deal with Roma integration and social inclusion. Following thematic fields will be covered in the seminar: education and employment; health and housing; and, relation between local administrations and Roma communities. Representatives of Roma organisations, NGOs, governments and local administrations and EU institutions will attend the semina
If you have interest to attend this seminar or have further questions please send an e-mail to following address: office@erionet. org.
What a lucky day! Strolling through the Saski Park in Warsaw this morning, by pure accident, I came across wonderful 
open air photo exhibition on Polish Roma. “Gypsies - Roma. Forgotten Images“. The collection presents documented everyday life of Polish Roma in 50-60s of XX century. These black-and-white images probably the last saved piece of world and nomadic life style of Roma. It seems that random visitors of this amazing public art presentation were lucky enough - these photos have not been published for a long time. The photos were taken by Janusz Helfer, Polish photographer from Cracow, who was enthrall by Roma culture.
Although, the settlements have dramatically changed life of Travellers, it have not cut them off their roots and traditions. The photographer has captured various aspects and interesting moments of everyday life of Polish Roma. You can see images of smiling children and people of older generation, tentcamps and family gatherings.
I was really happy to see that this exhibition has attracted attention of quite a lot of people who happened to be in the park. Good news! I had my camera with me and I am more then happy to share with you my photos on the photo exhibition on Polish Roma of 1950-60s. I hope this will give you an impression of this great collection.
Continue reading ‘"Gypsies-Roma. Forgotten Images".’
Last week Ljubljana welcomed about 30 participants from different countries at the IAPSS International Seminar Youth Bridging the Gap: Reaching Out to Roma. This international event was “dedicated to increasing the level of acceptance of the Roma as a minority group and of the Roma culture among youth”. The organizers did a spectacular job and the seminar turned out to be both productive and full of interesting events.
Young people from various countries and different backgrounds gathered together to share experiences and to prove that there are always people who are struggling for better world. Presentations on Roma in Slovenia and Serbia, project management workshops, a visit to a Roma community in Kamenice, a movie on Roma culture and way of life in Macedonia, a lot of provocative discussions and ideas for future projects - these are just a few things that took place during five day the seminar. One of the formal results of the meeting is the Manifesto of youth fighting discrimination against Roma which was signed by all participants.
Continue reading ‘International Seminar: Reaching Out to Roma’
NOTE: The following post is written by R.N.
No one has ever heard about the village called Tomor except for the 
people who live in the neighborhood. Still, this small village in Northern-Hungary got into the news. A foundation decided to help the villagers, mostly unemployed and poorly educated, to break out of the segregation: it gives them free wi-fi and used, cheap computers. They say that it helps them for instance to finish their studies, obtain a profession, and then, to find a job.
Not only in this area is segregation widespread. Roma pupils (and in Tomor most of villagers are Roma) got often into segregated schools where everything is worse, and only a few manage to finish their studies. This was one reason why the foundation called Rom Som decided to help them. Now it operates community centers in six villages where the villagers can study or simply browse on the web.
Nevertheless, they started another project in Tomor. With the help of some companies, computers are available for the villagers at a cheap price – around 80 euros, which reminds on the 100-dollar-laptop project of Nicholas Negroponte that inspired the Hungarian initiative as well. Monthly payments are also possible. And beside the computers, free wi-fi covers the whole village.
The foundation says, if the program works, they will continue it in other villages, and then, they may also extend the program abroad. One thing is sure so far: the people in Tomor are enthusiastic.
POSTED BY R.N.
Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, Hi5, Friendster, Iwiw – only some of the community website on the Internet. For already a month, there is a new one: Zhoriben (http://www.zhoriben.net) – meaning contact in Lovari language.
The default language of the site is Lovari, but it is possible to change it to Croatian, Slovakian, Czech, German, English and Romanian. You can only be a member of the network, if you receive an invitation from someone who is already there. The idea is to strengthen the contacts among Roma worldwide, and to strengthen also the presence of Roma on the Web.
They have one problem though. In the Lovari language, some words used in Computer Science simply do not exist yet. Instead of those, the English version is used, at least, until the community does not create the new expressions.
Many thanks to Chris for a hint 
Interested in contemporary Roma art and culture? The Roma Pavilion in Venice Biennale is the first significant event to feature Roma art to a wider audience. The best would be to drop in the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale in Calle della Tana 2168/B, Venice, till the end of November, but virtual tour is also an option. “Paradise Lost”: an exhibition presents sixteen contemporary Roma artists representing eight European countries. The exhibition is curated by Tímea Junghaus, the first Roma art historian in Hungary and an acknowledged advocate for the cultural rights of minorities. In 2002 she has founded the János Balázs Gallery in Hungary. Tímea Junghaus’s articles on minority art, culture and education were published in such magazines and newspapers as Amaro Drom, Romapage, and the Indymedia Independent Media Network. “If the terra incognita of exotic gypsies has been the target of escape since 19th century modernism for Europe, have we all lost our search for Paradise?” - a rhetorical question asked by Tímea Junghaus.
Daniel Baker in his current work “explores the imagined space occupied by the Gypsy, offering a window into the marginal area allocated to them - outside of, yet surrounded by, connected, yet dislocated from a society that they have existed within for hundreds of years. The imagined space here refers both to the symbolic space of myth and misconception held in the popular imagination, as well as the absence or disappearance of geographical space for Gypsy habitation in the light of recent legislation”.
Continue reading ‘Paradise Lost: the First Roma Pavilion in Venice Biennale’
