Stories of Romani People

Prejudice has shaped the lives of the Roma people since their first migrations from the Indian sub-continent into Europe, affecting the amount of integration possible and establishing cultural boundaries which persist. As a result, the Roma people very often live on the fringes of society, their lives and culture obscured from their relative neighbours. Nevertheless, their presence in the lands they inhabit has had great, positive effect on culture. In the Balkans, the region's rich and unique musical output has been impacted massively by the Roma, helping to produce many fascinating musical hybrids the likes of which the rest of Europe could only dream about.

At this event in the Student Centre Gallery, the Zagreb-based Fade In association have collaborated with the Roma Resource Centre from Darda, near Osijek, to produce an exhibition that will take place in both Zagreb and in Slavonia. Stories of the Romani people is an exhibition of 18 personal stories from Roma people, most of whom are members of the Muntenci / Munćani, Ludari and Ardeljani / Erdeljci sub-groups of the Bajaši branch who have settled in Slavonia and Baranja. Although their personalities and stories are obviously unique and different from each other, brought together as a whole they provide a rare insight into the contemporary life and problems of their communities. One of the main tasks of the exhibition is to contribute to breaking prejudices and assisting in the ongoing attempts to integrate Roma into the wider community. The stories will be viewed within the broader socio-political-social context of Croatian society, which still has a hard time coping with the challenges of integration and respect for diversity. Although the exhibition is in Croatian, international ambassadors and visitors have been prepared for and an English translation of the stories is available on request.