Catalog MARr - Muzeul Alternativ Rromanes

MARr

Arts Lab 4.0

Artist from Spain, 30 years old, she is specialized in Art Directing and design.

Painter artist, from Italy, 19 years old, she is specialized in free handpaint and create her own painting reality.

Artist from Germany, 18 years old, she is specialized in fashion design.

Sculpture and visual artist from Turkey, 23 years old.

He is specialized in sculpture and new technologies.

mAJA MöRCHEN SARATORRIJOS Federica ColzanI Yavuzhan gUMUS

Artist from Jordan, 23 years old, is a multimedia designer and visual storyteller.

Artist from Egypt, 18 years old, she is specialized in circus, theatre and dance.

Actress from Italy, 19 years old, she is specialized in theatre.

Jazz singer, composer and song writer from Turkey, 25 years old.

Wasan Abusummaqah Ataota Chiara Gentili Cihan Falez

Cultural manager

She is a lifelong learner, and her area of interest is developing projects that motivate artists to become socially responsible and use their art to bring people together to build better communities. For the next seven years, her plans are to engage one hundred international artists to transform Târgu Frumos in an Alternative Art Town, creating four experiential museums inspired by the local cultural heritage: MAF (Alternative Museum of Folklore), JEMOM (Jewish Memorial Open Air Museum), MARr (Alternative Rromanes Museum) and Cucuteni Alternative.

Mihaela Diana Podariu

Introduction

I am receiving often the question of why I am interested to promote Rroma culture, as a non-Rroma. As a human being, I believe diversity is one of the most beautiful gifts we received in this world. My love for diversity made me happier, and interested in traveling, learning and connecting with locals.

My experience with Rroma culture starts in 2010 when I cooperated with Gypsy Eye Association and developed a project called Messengers against Discrimination.

Rroma people are an important part of our culture. They are part of a Romanian international brand, therefore my plan is to make the best of it, using artistic and cultural tools. I can’t solve discrimination or eradicate poverty for them, but I can try with all my heart to see and share their culture in a creative manner, bringing artists together and building learning experiences.

The results were impressive, we even got mentioned in the Parliament as a good practice. During the years, I kept myself connected with the Rroma culture, doing different non-formal caravans to Zmeu, and Crucea, or inviting Rroma groups to Folcloristica Festival. In 2018, I facilitated a youth exchange called Rroma Heart which represents our first attempt to create a museum. 40+ young people from Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, and Romania learned about the Rroma culture of Târgu Frumos and of the countries involved, worked in national and international groups, experienced improvisation and labyrinth theater and other arts, made presentations and created an experiential museum for European Rroma. In 2022, we tried out an event called Șatra - craftsmen, fiddlers, merchants, and storytellers in partnership with Pro

Roma Association in Iași. All these experiences, created the ground for what we call Muzeul Alternativ Rromanes (MARr).

The choice for the Rromanes instead of Rroma in the title of the museum, has behind several reasons. One is related to the virtual world. Right now, Rroma and Roma will always lead you to Italy or the Roman empire. Rromanes is related to the language, the translation we found is ‘‘in the Rroma way’’.

Even challenging sometimes, we involved Rroma people in our creation processes, and it is something we will do as long as this initiative will exist. Our purpose is to make the majority interested by the Rroma culture and create a more active way to love and appreciate the legacy of this culture.

faced over 400 years of slavery. In our alternative museum, the audience will learn about the history of Rroma, being invited to play, to imagine, to create, to contribute. And I believe that until 2028, more people will be able to value the Rroma treasure of Târgu Frumos.

The survival of Rroma culture is connected with oral history, storytelling, music, dance, theatre, crafting and painting. Their artworks has often gone unrecognised, and just in Romania they

THEATER AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT LAB

of Sara Torrijos & Chiara Gentili

For Rroma alternative museum I had the great opportunity to work with the special Sara Torrijos. Together we combined our passions and our artistic knowledge to create a workshop that could give the opportunity to young people to express themselves and get to know each other better through emotional intelligence, theater, and even a pinch of magic.

To create this project we were inspired by Rroma traditions and myths. Both of us were fascinated and impressed by the figure of witches and their practices. These in fact have an important role and function not only within the community but also within society. This helped us to understand what we

“

For me, Rroma culture is interweaving, eclecticism, and craftsmanship. “

wanted to highlight most: the mystery, empathy, and knowledge of oneself and others. Bringing this idea to life was very exciting and enriching for me. The relationships intertwined with my students have given me new looks and approaches not only toward people but toward life. To be

honest, I would not have expected to do so many activities, but above all that in such a short time the people could feel ready to share the deepest and most vulnerable part of themselves. With Sara, we have also enclosed part of the experiences lived in a game. In this way, we

hope that the Rromani culture and the discovery of oneself and others can continue its journey for a long time and through many souls.

How to use witchcraft to develop emotional intelligence?

Energyzer

L´etticheta - The label

Circle clap theater game

Main activity

Breathing and using the body

Guess the emotion

Numerology

Forest test

Map of emotions

Couple work (mirroring, leading in space, trust...)

Guided meditation

Drawing your soul blindfolded

Candle

Creative writing

Breath representation

Representing the body’s energies with colours

Animals

Self care box

Talisman

LECTURE TIME

Tarot Game

Palmistry

The feeling when you you were happy

The feeling when you return alone, to a place where you were happy with another person.

The feeling when you return alone, to a place where you were happy with another person. MARr

MOVIE

“I was with a book and a lady came up to me and said: “Oh, you know how to read.”

“Once I was in the local market with my father and there was a grandfather who was with his grandson and he said, the Gypsy is going to take you away!”

“Once I was in the local market with my father and there was a grandfather who was with his grandson and he said, the Gypsy is going to take you away!”

“I was with a book and a lady came up to me and said: “Oh, you know how to read.”

“I was with a book and a lady came up to me and said: “Oh, you know how to read.”

“Once I was in the local market with my father and there was a grandfather who was with his grandson and he said, the Gypsy is going to take you away!”

MARr MARr

Saray Oliver Rroma Beauty consultant

Luis Fernández Rroma Social Mediator

“When I was at school and there was a lack of school supplies, the children in my class always said that it was because of the Gypsy, I was the only Gypsy in the school.”

“My son, who has no Gypsy features, told me that when his schoolmates found out he was a Gypsy they told him: NO, you can’t be a Gypsy, because you are not dirty!”

Rosalía Vázquez Rroma

Luis Fernández Rroma Social Mediator

Saray Oliver Rroma Beauty consultant

“My son, who has no Gypsy features, told me that when his schoolmates found out he was a Gypsy they told him: NO, you can’t be a Gypsy, because you are not dirty!”

“When I was at school and there was a lack of school supplies, the children in my class always said that it was because of the Gypsy, I was the only Gypsy in the school.”

MARr MARr

Luis Fernández Rroma Social Mediator

Saray Oliver Rroma Beauty consultant

“My son, who has no Gypsy features, told me that when his schoolmates found out he was a Gypsy they told him: NO, you can’t be a Gypsy, because you are not dirty!”

“Once I was in the local market with my father and there was a grandfather who was with his grandson and he said, the Gypsy is going to take you away!”

MARr

Luis Fernández Rroma Social Mediator

“My son, who has no Gypsy features, told me that when his schoolmates found out he was a Gypsy they told him: NO, you can’t be a Gypsy, because you are not dirty!”

MARr MARr

Saray

Oliver Rroma Beauty consultant

President of the Roma Association in Spain

Saray Oliver Rroma Beauty consultant

Rosalía Vázquez Rroma President of

“When I was at school and there was a lack of school supplies, the children in my class always said that it was because of the Gypsy, I was the only Gypsy in the school.”

Rosalía Vázquez Rroma President

Saray Oliver Rroma Beauty consultant

MARr MARr

Saray Oliver Rroma Beauty consultant

the Roma Association in Spain

of the Roma Association in Spain

For this edition of the MARr Museum, we have developed a complete course with activities focused on personal and emotional development based on theatre exercises, emotional intelligence, and ancestral reading magic. The participants of these activities have learned to recognize their emotions and feelings in order to understand

where they come from and to be able to control them.

In addition, attending these activities has helped them to create, and identify personal ambitions and short and long-term goals.

On a personal level, I highlight the traditions, customs, rites, and artistic expressions that the Rroma people as a whole recog-

“

For me, Rroma culture is an exaltation of emotion, feeling, passion and sensitivity.

nize and accept as their own, insofar as they are expressions of their daily life. In terms of passion, emotion, and artistic expression, the Rroma community has had a complex development throughout history, and more specifically my interest in the empathetic and intellectually sensitive reading of the tarot and the use of magic and rituals.

My contribution to this museum has been to develop a methodology to connect with young people, using empathy as a tool to create a safe space for them. During this process, I have been able to actively participate in the activities and as a result, understand

myself and my relationship with others. The marginality of the Roma community and their empowerment as a tool to overcome it has been the emotion that has guided my personal project in this museum.

I envision the future of this museum as a window of creation that will help new generations of volunteers to learn more about Romanian culture and help empower the community.

ALTERNATIVE PAINTING LAB

of Federica ColzanI

Working at the Alternative Museum of Rroma I discovered a colorful, full of energy, and complex culture with its lights and shadows, like every culture, is. It’s inexplicable how people sentenced to years and years of slavery, persecution, and nomadism were in spite of everything able to build traditions and art. But still today these aspects are hidden by prejudices. Since I think that a fundamental thing to start deconstructing these prejudices is to give voice to the people of the community, for my project I chose to celebrate Rroma artists. The works of the students and mine coexist to create a small installation inspired by

the installation “Witch Hunt” by the Rroma artist Delain La Bas. The topic of the work is to contrast the gaze of the non-Rroma people that see them as not worthy of their same rights, less human, with the beauty of their art. With the students, I start-

“ For me, Rroma culture is empathy, energy, and art.

ed with theatrical games and exercises whose purpose was to create a safe space for the group, learn how to represent reality and how to express themselves through colors. For the final product, we explored different art fields: poetry, painting, sculpture, fashion, and music. For each one of these, we met some Rroma artists and the students tried to represent with painting or clay their feelings, their

version of these works of art. At final we painted two big, weird figures that are representations of how the Rroma people are generally perceived. Also, my canvas will be part of the installation. I painted three people with defined features and one Rroma person with her face unclear: only the dress is visible if you discriminate against another person, you are not seeing them as a fully human being. These charac-

ters are all connected between them and the paper airplanes through a rope. The airplanes are symbols of art, imagination, and spirituality: the fact that we all share these elements means that in the deep our souls are similar and human. I think this is so important for us since with this museum we try to celebrate and give a new value to Rroma culture with art.

My workshop had over 25 students. Firstly, I told them about the history of Rroma life and travel combined with different drawing activities. Inspired by the history and these drawings we then painted a mural together. Because my topic was especially Rroma history, I mostly learned about that. For example, I didn’t know that Rroma come from India or that they were slaves in Ro-

mania. It surprised me that they weren’t all nomadic but a lot of them actually lived settled. I also learned more about their life now and that being Rroma can still be a big part of one’s identity.

During the work for this project, I faced some challenges. I often felt out of my depth because I didn’t know a lot about Rroma and I didn’t know what to do in thxe beginning. I was

For me, Rroma culture is still a bit of a mystery.

GRAFFITI AND HISTORY LAB

also scared of perpetuating stereotypes. Another challenge was working with the students. But it is a really interesting topic and I am glad I did it and I am happy with the results now. I did the mural with the students and I am now working in a wrap skirt and possibly more clothes inspired by Rroma clothing.

I feel like I didn’t get to know it as much as I hoped, especially since I would have liked more interaction with Rroma people.

I think the museum can continue growing and developing. I think it can work and collaborate with more Rroma as well as international artists.

of mAJA MöRCHEN

Game about HISTORY of RROMA

ARRANGE CHRONOLOGICALLY ON THE MAP THE TRAVEL OF RROMA THROUGH HISTORY, UNTIL NOWADAYS.

1 2 3

The Rroma left India. There are different theories on why they left. One theory is that they were artists given to the king of Persia as a gift but they might have also been soldiers.

The Rroma came to Europe in the Byzantine Empire. The first records about them in now Istanbul are from around 1100.

By the 14th century, Rroma had reached the Balkans where they worked as blacksmiths as well as in other trades.

3 4 5

The Ottoman Empire expanded into the Balkans in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the Ottoman Empire Rroma lived free of persecution and had a variety of jobs. Some converted to Islam.

The first record of Rroma people in Romania is from 1385. They were held as slaves until the 1800s.

In the 15th century, Rroma arrived in Central and Western Europe. They often presented as pilgrims from Egypt. Some travelled from Persia to North Africa and reached Spain from there.

6 7 8

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Rroma were expelled from many countries. (For example, from the Holy Roman Empire in 1498, claiming they were Turkish spies).

From the 16th century, there were more brutal repressions in Western Europe. E.g. in the Netherlands Rroma were hunted.

In the late 18th century Rroma in Hungary and Austria were forced to settle down and assimilate. They were not allowed to speak their language or wear traditional clothes and young Rroma children were given to non-Rroma families. Other countries passed similar laws.

9 9 10

Rroma people were heavily affected by the Holocaust. The Nazis put them in concentration or extermination camps wanting to exterminate their whole ethnicity. It is unclear how many Rroma were killed, with numbers ranging between 200,000 - 2,500,000 victims.

The genocide of Rroma by the Nazis was ignored/denied for a long time. It was first acknowledged by a German chancellor in 1982.

After WWII, many Rroma lived under communism in Eastern Europe. They were relocated (e.g. from Slovakia to Czechia) and the ones that traveled were forced to settle down.

Nowadays, worldwide exist 12 million Rroma people. Large numbers live in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, the Czech and Slovak republics, and Hungary.

Lets play!

Mach the step of Rroma History with the places on the map, writing the numbers in the correct fields.

DANCE AND DOCUMENTARY FILM LAB of

Ataota AND Wasan Abusummaqah

Together with Wasan, we worked with 20 students through energy exercises, we told them about the history of the Rroma people, and also, we involved them in a video representing in a simplified way the Roma culture. In addition to this, I taught the young people how to play juggling, and almost all of them now know

“

For me, Rroma culture is to be different. “

how to play with three balls. We worked in groups, I worked with them with simple methods on how they can move their body and discover more about their bodies. In the last two days of the lab, I focused on contemporary dance and I did small choreography for them.

I didn’t know a lot about the Rroma people before this

exhibition, but it gave me the chance to learn and know more, about their history, from where they came or from where they started their journey to the world, their dances, their traditions, their clothes, their lifestyle.

What attracted me the most is their history and how the people treat them based on where they come. I didn’t know any-

thing about their history and this inspired me to do a video about it but through dance. I know that it will be the first museum about Rroma people here, so, I know it’s just the beginning to let the people know more and see the Roma people in different ways. All I know is that this museum in the future will change the way that people look at Rroma people.

For me, Rroma culture is about being unique. “

At this museum, Ataota and I decided to cooperate and do the workshop with the students together. We did energizers, dances, and we learned together with them about the Roma history, culture, and art. The result was a video that represents what we did during the workshop.

I’ve always been fascinated by the Rroma people and how

active and energetic they are, and they show that in their dance and culture. Through this exhibition, I learned more about their history and where they originally come from, I learned about their culture, the witchcraft part, the mysteries, and mythologies. For this exhibition, I contributed to filming and editing two videos with Ataota, and I did a

painted collage of photos that represents the Rroma people and their culture.

I think the more we talk about the Rroma people and include their culture in our art, the more they will feel included in society, and embracing the beauty of their culture will give them pride in it and not feel ashamed of who they truly are.

THE MUSIC LAB

of Cihan Falez

For me, the culture of the Rroma means above all great music. “

Together with the students, we studied some songs belonging to the Rroma culture and learned to sing together. And on the day of the exhibition, together with two students, we will give a small concert to our audience.

Preparing MARr installation, I learned a lot about Rroma culture: lifestyles, family structures, arts, clothes, and dances. It was an enjoyable learning process.

I prepared a concert for the alternative museum. I will organize a violin recital with the repertoire of Rroma music. I did not experience any difficulties in my job. Since I love Rroma music very much, it has been a fun working process for me. We can find everything about life in their music.

I think the future of this museum is very good. It promises people an alternative way of experience.

SCULPTURE

As I had to leave for Turkey, I did not have the chance to create a lab for the students, but I explored by myself the topic of Rroma culture. I found out about the history of the Rroma people, and how they traveled all around the world. I discovered they have the most powerful witches in the world.

It’s hard to create products in this field for me but clay is helping inspiration and creativity. The Alternative Museum of Rroma will increase cultural awareness toward Rroma minority.

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For me, the Rroma people are part of humanity. “

super tınerı

ASIRYS

Rromanes Alternative Museum - MARr is a project funded by European Union through European Solidarity Corps Programme. Fore more information about the project, check marr.supertineri.org and supertineri.org.

The European Union support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the E.U. cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

MARr