Delaine Le Bas is a Roma. When she first met people, she tells, y could hardly believe it: red hair, white complexion, and n anor art study? You're not going to do that! The woman with a British passport and French name must often explain herself. What she has in common with se Roma people? She was studying! Racist reactions like this are enduring le BAS. Her biography and appearance did not fit cliché.
Delaine le Bas and Hamze Bytyci want to face Diskrimierenden view of Roma. For this y have organized first Roma Biennale, which carries title come out now! And from April 7th to April 10th at Berlin Maxim Gorky Theater. Le Bas and Bytyci are two artistic directors. The four-day event with performances, workshops, parades and concerts wants to question rigid Roma clichés and instead draw a complex, multi-ethnic picture. Clichés abound: from begging hikers, from living in a caravan or from a existence in trash. Many place origins of Roma in Romania or in Balkans, y associate with dark skin color, poverty and a nomadic lifestyle. As a self-employed, self-confident minority, many often perceive m as rare.
Hamze Bytyci, born in 1982 in Prizren/Kosovo, is an actor and filmmaker. He lives and works in Berlin and is committed to rights of Roma. (copyright) Stephanie BallantineThis is also because Roma do not have a uniform history, says 35-year-old Hamze Bytyci. In truth, re are many micro and marginal stories. From country to country, from group to group, yes from family to family, language, religion, passport, historical background and identity can be different. Basically, it is an almost postmodern concept of identity. One can only emotionally approach a definition: "Being Roma is like having a scar. If you feel this scar, you're a Roma. "
What sounds so cryptic is an attempt to reconcile different identity concepts of Roma. Although re are various branches of research which assume that origin of Roma were formed 700 years ago as migrant ethnic groups in Indian subcontinent and moved from re to Europe. But this ory is as uncertain as it is controversial. Moreover, Roma have neir a country nor a nation. They have no message, no government, no legitimate representation. There is one language, so-called Indo-Aryan Romanes, but it is not spoken by all Roma. It is also not suitable as an orientation aid.
It's complicatedOnly since 1970s has re been such a thing as an organized international Roma movement. In 1971, associations at first Roma Congress in London agreed on a flag. Since n it serves as a sign of unity. In center stands a red Indian Speicherrad, which symbolizes migratory movements of Roma. But even this flag, a first act of collective identity finding, is not recognized by all. The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, for example, does not accept m, arguing that nomadism does not meet a multitude of Roma.
It's complicated. Wherever you are, you will not find a fixed description of Roma identity. And to make it even more complicated: in many cases, those people who profess Roma identity have no clear answer to what it is. This could only be answered individually, says Harze Bytyci. This circumstance can have a quick irritation for outsiders. It seems that it is difficult for many to respect (or even understand) an identity whose nature is contrary to a generally valid description.
Date Of Update: 07 April 2018, 12:02
