„Romani Kultura” is a travelling festival of contemporary Roma art and culture. In 2022, we visited Łódź in order to present the works of the Roma community from the Łódź area to a wider audience.
Wandering with culture around Poland!
When the question is asked about Roma traditions and culture, what comes to our minds most often? If we were to survey the people of our country, a very popular answer would probably be music and dance! I state this with confidence, having worked among the Roma, Roma artists, and the Polish public for almost 20 years.
Almost two years ago in Radom, Małgorzata Brus from Fundacja Dom Kultury and I were having a nice chat during a film animation workshop for Roma children. In these interesting circumstances, it occurred to us that we should organise a festival of Roma culture in the near future and present authentic, but also the most characteristic, well-known elements of Roma culture. But to do this in a less obvious way so as not to create further stereotypes.
This is not an easy task. The schematic image of Roma life is so vivid in the imaginations of many audiences that it is sometimes difficult to present something quite different, but just as true. Generations born in the 1980s and 1990s, not to mention older ones, know what I mean. The famous „colourful carts” roamed Poland practically until the mid-1970s, also the colourful dresses were present on Polish stages, more or less a decade earlier. This distinctive image, present and popular in our country, made its way into the domestic mainstream and became almost the flagship image of Roma communities at least in this part of Europe.
Particular credit for this goes to the musical events of the 1990s, which created and, I would venture to say, even sharpened the image of the Roma artist and the Roma dancer. Practically at festivals, audiences even demand the „ore, ore” songs and dances with frilly skirts, which is what the true Romani musical tradition means to some people.
And returning to our intentions, a short time after the aforementioned and fruitful chat, in the summer of 2021 a festival was created and held. 'Kłodzka Roma’ took place in the picturesque open air in Kudowa-Zdrój, at the Art-Dworek guesthouse at the foot of Stołowe Mountains.
Great artists were invited. Krzysztof Gil, now a world-renowned, award-winning artist with Roma roots, led an open-air painting workshop, which was mainly attended by the adult part of the event’s participants. At the same time, the children, under the guidance of Roma artist Róża Łakatosz, prepared artworks. At the same time, they received a solid portion of knowledge about Roma culture, which they would certainly not have received as part of their education in Polish schools.
One of the inseparable elements of peoples’ culture is cuisine, and in the context of Roma cuisine, many interesting associations have been made, but also many questions. How did the Roma prepare their meals during their wanderings? What are the typical ingredients of Roma cuisine? These questions and many more were answered by Krystyna „Perła” Markowska during a cooking workshop. In the evening, the same artist performed a repertoire of traditional Roma songs together with her husband, Michał, who accompanied her on guitar. Those were not well-known songs from the radio or television, but the audience had a great time.
A year later, the Kłodzka Roma Festival was transformed into the Wandering Roma Culture Festival „Romani Kultura”, which took place at the Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre in Łódź. The idea behind the Festival is to reach the widest possible audience in various places in Poland and to present the cultural achievements of Roma artists and creators living in selected regions.
On 5 June 2022, from the early morning hours, kids and adults of Łódź came to paint a mural with artists Krzysztof Gil and Marcin Janusz. A young Roma artist, Noemi Łakatosz, was working at a stand next to them, conducting art classes with the youngest children to create a modern tabor. Throughout the Festival, it was possible to watch short films made by Delfin Łakatosz, a young Roma director specialising in short documentary and feature films. In front of the Dialogue Centre, an authentic Roma wagon of the Ostrowski type from the collection of Andrzej Grzymała Kazłowski’s Museum of Roma Culture in Warsaw could be viewed up close.
In the afternoon, we had a meeting with poet Róża Łakatosz (there is no coincidence of names, the Łakatoszes are a family), during which the author read her poetry from her latest volume.
And so the festival moved on to its climax, a concert by artist Zdzisław Markowski and his friends. The musician is known for his traditional musical inspirations and for playing exclusively live. It was a real musical feast.
Where will 'Romani Kultura’ go next year? That we don’t know yet, but therein lies the greatest surprise and power!
Follow the website and social media of Fundacja Dom Kultury, including E-Drom.pl, and perhaps your next holiday will be an unforgettable adventure.
Agnieszka Caban
The festival took place on 5 June 2022 at the Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre, 83 Wojska Polskiego Street.
Programme
- Intergenerational painting workshops: we have invited a special guest, artist Krzysztof Gil, to run painting workshops. According to his original idea, we will all create a large-format painted patchwork. The multitude of expressions will be connected by a coherent concept of this international artist with Roma roots.
- Camp: arrangement and presentation of an antique Roma wagon (of the Ostrów type). The vehicle, fully equipped and open to the public, will be located in the park by the Centre. There will be a camp set up around the wagon and an animator will be guiding visitors around it.
- Short film projection: we will arrange a stand with a show of video clips by a young Roma artist, Delfin Łakatosz in the foyer of the Centre. Delfin’s short films depict the contemporary world of Roma youth. They are a great document, a testimony of our times, full of colour and fast narration.
- All-day artistic workshops for children: led by young painter Noemi Łakatosz in the park next to the Centre. We will build a cardboard wagon and decorate it with motifs typical of Roma culture. The workshop is intended for children of all ages, the youngest ones will be assisted by animators.
- Poetic afternoon: Róża Łakatosz is a contemporary Roma artist and poet. Her poems illustrate Roma contemporary life, they are a record of everyday life, the changing seasons, but also a testimony of the current situation, including the pandemic. The author’s reading of her poetry will be accompanied by artistic visualisations by Delfin Łakatosz.
- Dance workshops: participants of all ages will be led by Grażyna Markowska, a choreographer, dance instructor and dancer from the „Patria” and „Perła i Bracia” ensembles.
- Musical feast: musical workshops with a final concert will be performed by Zdzisław Markowski, a guitarist, instrumentalist, certified instructor of music and traditional dance, choreographer and dancer. He will be accompanied by local musicians.
Wandering Festival „Romani Kultura”: Łódź 2022 has been co-funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, National Centre for Culture in the Programme EtnoPolska 2022.’
Honorary patronage
Partners
Media patronage
