Romani artist Emanuel Barica sketched all the black and white portraits of famous Romani people on the museum wall. "For once, in this way, we could shape the narrative about us," said deputy head of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture. "But most of all, it's unique because it is driven by Roma community voice, vision, experts, advisors, artists and guides."Īnna Mirga-Kruszelnicka was one of 19 people - mostly Roma - to help organise the exhibition. "It's one of the first times that Roma history, art and culture has been presented at such a scale," said the professor at the University of Vermont. US anthropologist Jonah Steinberg spent years lobbying to hold the exhibition. "We too had forefathers who fought in all the wars," said Sylvie Debart, whose French Sinti grandfather Marius Janel was part of the underground army fighting the Germans.īut "travellers sadly are only ever in the news when they stop their caravan somewhere," she said. 'For once, in this way, we could shape the narrative about us,' said Roma cultural activist Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka © Nicolas TUCAT / AFP It also shines a light on Romani members of the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation. The exhibition highlights the work of late Romani-Austrian writer and artist Ceija Stojka, who wrote about and painted the horrific ordeal after surviving three separate death camps.
The Nazis and their allies killed up to 500,000 Roma during that period, according to the US-based Holocaust Museum.
On another wall are so-called "anthropometric cards" of Roma living in France in the early 20th century, complete with racist measurements, mugshots and fingerprints.Īll French Roma - who call themselves Sinti, "gitans" or travellers - were required to carry the identity documents, which were designed to limit their movement and paved the way for their deportation during World War II. France required Roma to carry so-called 'anthropometric cards' © Nicolas TUCAT / AFPĪmong the show's exhibits is an antique ad drawn from the country's archives that advertises "a young gypsy" for sale for 29 coins.
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