The 14th year of the world Roma festival Khamoro is heading to the Czech capital
The fourteenth year of the World Roma Festival KHAMORO will offer not only concerts of traditional and contemporary Roma music, but also a fashion show by famous designer Osmany Laffita, a theater performance by the National Theatre, a two-day expert seminar on intolerance towards Roma and an exhibition of traditional Roma crafts. Slovo 21 NGO and Studio Production Saga have been in charge of the festival organization since 1999. The patronage of the fouteenth year ofthe KHAMORO festival, which will take place in various parts of Prague on 28 May – 6 June 2012, was taken over by the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mr. Petr Nečas, and the Mayor of the City of Prague, Mr. Bohuslav Svoboda.
The tribute to Vlad Olah, a famous Roma writer who died in late January this year, opens this year’s festival programme. This novelist and poet will be commemorated on Monday, May 28th, at the Gallery Montmartre in the Library of Václav Havel. After the commemorative evening the festival will launch its music programme that is KHAMORO‘s biggest attraction. Right on Monday our visitors can enjoy the Roma group Mec Yec from Belgium, who will who will play a concert of contemporary Roma music. at Retro Music Hall.
Tuesday and Wednesday will offer the concerts of Gypsy Jazz at Jazz Dock. The visitors will see and especially hear this famous peak of this genre. "There will perform Fapy Lafertin from Belgium and the Netherlands and Sonnekai group. The members of the latter one are descendants of Django Reinhardt,the founder of Gypsy jazz," says festival producer Džemil Silajdžić.
On Thursday and Friday the festival music programme will consist of traditional Roma music concerts at Roxy where bands from eight countries will perform: Roma formation Cindži Renta from Český Krumlov (Czech Republic), Urs Karpatz Gipsy Band (France), Kocani Orkestar (Macedonia – Belgium), Nikolay Verbitsky group (Russia), Romathan (Slovakia), Stevan Familić (Serbia), Carmen Fernandez (Spain). "All the performing groups at the same time can be seen at the artists‘ parade in the historical center of Prague on Thursday afternoon or at the closing gala-concert on Saturday at SaSaZu. Nightwork as well as the singer Martin Svátekare are invited to perform there as guests,“Silajdžić added.
Festival KHAMORO is not only about music. It will also offer its visitors a rich accompanying programme. It will include an outdoor fashion show at Lyčkovo náměstí in Karlín.This fashion show prepared specially for the Khamoro festival will be led by a famous fashion designer Osmany Laffita. Festival visitors can also attend the exhibitions. The first one will introduce the world of traditional Roma crafts, at the other one the visitors can see Mila Doleželová’s soil paintings. KHAMORO does not lack the expert part of the programme consisting this year of a two-day international seminar named "New Forms of Intolerance against Roma in Modern Europe."
“My Neighbor, My Enemy” is a stage collage made up by the National Theatre primarily of public documents and speeches that reflect the coexistence of Czechs and Roma. This play by director Viktoria Čermáková was premiered within the National Theater season in September last year an is also a part of the KHAMORO programme. Besides this performance the visitors can attend one more called “Open for Everything” that offers a fresh look at contemporary society and touches upon the life of the Roma community. During the festival there will take place international workshops We are on the Long Way. The workshops will bring together young Roma from the Czech Republic, Italy, Lithuania and Bulgaria.
