Czech Republic: KHAMORO World Roma Festival features discussion on Romani literature, presentation of RomArchive

The KHAMORO World Roma Festival, which began Sunday night with a concert on Shooter's Island (Střeleckém ostrový), has continued with a series of side events in Prague. Yesterday the Václav Havel Library in Prague presented a discussion seminar as part of the festival's "Gavoro" ("Village") cycle on "Romani Characters in (Non)Romani Literature", featuring the authors Ilona Ferková, Jana Hejkrlíková, Kateřina Sidonová and Jáchym Topol, who is also a journalist.

The evening was moderated by the Romani Studies scholar and translator Karolína Ryvolová, with musical accompaniment by Jiří Vidimský. The festival will also be presenting the RomArchive project, which aims to systematically archive Romani art and history.

This unique archive is meant to familiarize the public with Romani culture and highlight its contribution to Europe. The advisory board of the archive is comprised of academics, activists, artists and representatives of international Romani organizations working in academic research, arts and culture.

The RomArchive is meant to catalog fine arts, literature, music and photography created by Romani artists. Until now, according to the KHAMORO World Roma Festival organizers, there has never been an institution dedicated to archiving Romani cultural output at a pan-European level.

"For that reason, institutions and organizations involved with archives and working in the area of culture in the Czech Republic will be reached out to during the KHAMORO World Roma Festival," festival press spokesperson Soňa Kalejová explained. The RomArchive is the first comprehensive digital archive of Romani art, and its aim is to demonstrate the inherent contribution made by Romani citizens to European culture.

For this purpose, a collection of artworks in various formats will be compiled, as will historical documents and scholarship. The richness of Romani artistic and cultural production will therefore become more visible - centuries old, still alive and diverse to this day, and closely intertwined with the wealth of European culture as a whole.

The presentation of this unique project mapping the wealth of Romani culture and history will take place on Friday, 2 June 2017 at 15:00 at the Gallery of the Czech Centres, Rytířská 539/31, Prague 1. The KHAMORO World Roma Festival, which is the biggest festival of Romani culture in the world, began in Prague on Sunday and lasts through Saturday, 3 June.