Romani experts from Czech Republic and Slovakia discuss anti-Romani remarks, populist campaigns and more Roma representation in politics with lawmakers in the Czech lower house
As part of celebrations marking International Romani Day, an event called "The Roma in Democracy" was held on 10 April in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic under the auspices of the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Markéta Pekarová Adamová and Czech MP Jiří Navrátil, who is also Vice-Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region. The event involved both a panel discussion and the opening of a photograph exhibition called "Roma at Work".
The discussion with experts and politicians ran from 12:00 to 15:30. The main subjects were the electoral potential of the Roma, employment policy, the labor market situation and income poverty.
Election campaigns, Romani representation on candidate lists, and Romani voter turnout were also discussed. Romani experts presented specific examples of the remarks which have long harmed the perception of Roma in society and impact their everyday lives.
“We are glad that Ing. Ingrid Kosová, Ph.D., a Romani MP of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovakia and a longtime expert on the subject of education has accepted our invitation to this discussion. Her perspective can be quite inspirational for us. All clubs in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic have also confirmed their participation. We believe that the discussion will be constructive and to the point,” said organizers Edita Stejskalová, Jarmila Balážová, David Tišer, Jan Čonka and Emil Voráč in their invitation to the event.
After a press conference following the panel discussion at 15:30, the opening of the exhibition “Roma at Work” started at 15:45 and lasted until 17:00. It was opened by Pekarová Adamová and Navrátil together with curator David Tišer and will be on view at the Chamber of Deputies until 19 April.
“Roma at Work” combines art and technology to reveal society’s view of the subject of work in the context of the Romani minority. The exhibited works combine artistic vision with the advanced technology of artificial intelligence.
“With the aid of artificial intelligence, images were created which reflect on work in different contexts and environments. In addition to artistic visions, the exhibited works provide insight into reality,” organizers said, adding that the ambition of the curator from the ARA ART nonprofit organization was also to share actual photographs of employed Romani people with politicians.
Those works were produced as a spontaneous reaction of Romani citizens to the remarks by Czech Senator Jiří Čunek (Christian Democratic Party – KDU-ČSL) and Czech Senator Miroslava Němcová (Civic Democratic Party – ODS), who alleged that Romani people avoid work and are typically the recipients of welfare benefits. “We were irritated by articles on the news server PrahaIN.cz in which Senators Miroslava Němcová and Jiří Čunek said a significant proportion of Romani people do not work and live on welfare. We reject the populist remarks of Senator Němcová and Senator Jiří Čunek. Their allegations are full of prejudices and half-truths as well as humiliating to the Romani minority,” Jan Čonka, who initiated the online call for Romani people to provide photographs of themselves on the job together with Emil Voráč, previously told news server Romea.cz.
