Within the framework of the Joint Programme Roma Memory, the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture implemented a series of cultural, educational, and research based activities addressing Roma resistance, remembrance, and institutional antigypsyism. These activities were developed and delivered in close cooperation with key European and international stakeholders, including the Council of Europe, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), ODIHR, and the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma.
Together, the programme elements combined artistic expression, scholarly reflection, and capacity building, reinforcing Roma agency in memory work and contributing to sustainable European remembrance practices.
Luna De Rosa, The Structure of Antigypsyism, 2022, detail, courtesy of the artist
How do we tell the history of Roma communities beyond persecution? How do we make stories of resistance, dignity and solidarity visible across Europe?
The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) is pleased to present the renewed Roma Resistance travelling exhibition, a mobile educational resource designed to bring Roma history, memory and civic engagement into schools, museums, municipalities, libraries, universities, cultural institutions and community spaces across Europe.
The exhibition tells the history of Roma resistance from multiple perspectives. Rather than portraying Roma communities solely as victims of persecution, it highlights the many ways in which Roma have resisted oppression: through collective action, armed resistance, survival, cultural expression, mutual care, political mobilisation and the preservation of language, memory and identity.
Built on years of Roma scholarship and collaboration
The exhibition draws upon the deep knowledge embedded within ERIAC and builds on two important foundations.
On one hand, the research commissioned by the Tom Lantos Institute in cooperation with Heidelberg University and the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma, conducted between 2015 and 2017 under the leadership of Timea Junghaus.
The second foundation is ERIAC’s Re-thinking Roma Resistance research project, led by Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka, which further expanded the understanding of resistance as a broad social, political and cultural phenomenon extending far beyond armed struggle. The project supported by Foundation EVZ documented dozens of historical and contemporary stories between 2020-2021, demonstrating how resistance has taken many forms throughout Roma history.
Bringing together these research initiatives with the expertise of ERIAC’s membership, the exhibition presents a richer and more nuanced understanding of Roma history and memory.
Developed together with partners across Europe
The exhibition has been developed in cooperation with the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma, Fnasat – Gens du Voyage, Médiathèque Matéo Maximoff, La Voix des Rroms, and ternYpe – International Roma Youth Network, whose archival materials, and historical resources have significantly enriched the exhibition.
The project has been co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe within the framework of the Joint Programme RomaMemory.
A travelling exhibition designed for many contexts
The renewed exhibition has been developed as a flexible and open-source educational resource.
It is currently available in English, Romanian and Romani languages and has been specifically designed to travel easily between different venues and audiences.
The exhibition consists of 13 exhibition panels that can be displayed in schools, universities, museums, libraries, municipalities, cultural centres, community organisations and public institutions.
Institutions interested in hosting the exhibition have two possibilities:
This flexible model allows the exhibition to reach communities where permanent museum infrastructure may not exist, while ensuring high quality and consistency.
Beyond the exhibition: a newspaper for wider access
Recognising that not every organisation has the possibility to host an exhibition, ERIAC has also developed an English-language newspaper edition.
NEWSPAPER_24x32_Roma Resistance
The newspaper presents the exhibition content in a portable format that can be distributed during workshops, lectures, commemorations, school activities and community events. It provides an accessible resource for discussion and learning, even where exhibition infrastructure is unavailable.
Together, the exhibition and newspaper reflect ERIAC’s commitment to making Roma history and memory more accessible to diverse audiences across Europe.
Bringing Roma memory closer to communities
Remembering is not only about the past. It is about strengthening democratic values, challenging antigypsyism and ensuring that Roma voices are present within Europe’s shared historical memory.
With this open educational resource, ERIAC hopes to encourage dialogue, inspire critical reflection and support educators, cultural institutions and local communities in engaging with the history of Roma resistance in meaningful and accessible ways.
If your institution would like to host the exhibition, borrow the exhibition panels, or produce a local version, we warmly invite you to get in touch with ERIAC at emese (dot) molnar (at) eriac (dot) org.
Potential display format on GIRO metal stands
The two day programme Roma Art of Resistance marked International Roma Resistance Day through music, visual art, performance, and critical dialogue. It foregrounded Roma resistance as both a historical reality and a contemporary practice.
To mark the International Day of Roma Resistance, the internationally acclaimed guitarist Ferenc Snétberger performed at Kesselhaus Berlin together with outstanding young talents from his musical centre, Máté Balogh on saxophone and Flóra Bakonszegi on vocals.
On May 16, the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture hosted an evening programme dedicated to examining state surveillance, institutional antigypsyism, and Roma resistance through art, research, and public dialogue.
EXHIBITION OPENING
Roma Resistance: From Silenced Histories to Agents of Memory
This exhibition draws upon the deep knowledge embedded within ERIAC and builds on the seminal research commissioned by the Tom Lantos Institute, in cooperation with Heidelberg University and the Documentation Center for Sinti and Roma, conducted between 2015 and 2017 under the leadership of Timea Junghaus. This research marked a paradigmatic shift in how we understand the history of the Roma Holocaust.
PERFORMANCE
Approaching Ultra Light by Romy Rüegger
The performance stages propositions for a rereading of archival materials, sites and memory loops. It is based on a slow, caring research, that navigates questions of remembrance and opacity and the being made of our presence.
The performance navigates archival researches into mug shot photographs and wanted lists, documenting the biopolitical efforts that were applied by the newly founded nation state, in order to settle down non-sedentary living groups in Switzerland, southern Germany and Alsace. A systematic persecution that initiated a range of identity categories and a set of wording, that shows direct continuations in the vocabulary and identity categories used in present-day administration of migration.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Resistance and Remembrance: Confronting Institutional Antigypsyism Through Art and Research
The panel discussion brought together artists and academics, who reflected on personal and collective forms of resistance in response to the political and institutional mechanisms of antigypsyism.
The panel featured Dr. Markus End (Center for Research on Antisemitism, Technische Universität Berlin), a leading researcher and expert on institutional antigypsyism; Dr. Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka (Deputy Director, ERIAC), editor of Re-thinking Roma Resistance Throughout History; and Romy Rüegger, artist, researcher, and ERIAC–Villa Romana artist-in-residence. Together, they explored how historical and contemporary practices intersect across art, scholarship, and lived experience.
The discussion was moderated by Dr. Maria Bogdan, a media and cultural theorist, specializing in media representation, cultural memory, and the Roma Holocaust.
In addition to public cultural programming, ERIAC contributed to the Joint Programme Roma Memory through educational and intellectual outputs that strengthen Roma Holocaust education and remembrance policy.
ERIAC released a masterclass by writer and political organizer Pierre Chopinaud, reflecting on the historical and political significance of May 16, 1944, and its relevance for contemporary Roma resistance and mobilization.
This two-day training programme aimed to advance Roma Holocaust remembrance and education, with a particular focus on teaching Roma history within formal education systems. It built on Recommendation CM/Rec(2020)2 of the Committee of Ministers on the inclusion of the history of Roma and Travellers in school curricula and teaching materials.
The programme targeted staff of public authorities from European Union Member States, with particular emphasis on curriculum developers, Ministries of Education, National Roma Contact Points, and other stakeholders shaping educational content.
Twenty-five participants from 12 Member States attended the in person training, which included a guided visit to the Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum, participation in the European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration, and an intergenerational encounter between Roma youth and Holocaust survivors. An additional 47 participants joined the online session.
Led by Roma and non Roma scholars and international experts, the programme combined theoretical reflection with practical tools and existing educational resources for classroom use.
Further information and the agenda are available here:
Photo documentation of the training by Tamás Márkos in the frame of the JP Roma Memory, August 1-2, 2025All activities were organized by the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture and implemented within the Joint Programme Roma Memory. The programme was co-funded by the European Union and co-funded and implemented by the Council of Europe, in close cooperation with European and international stakeholders committed to Roma remembrance, human rights, and historical justice.
