With a population of 10 to 12 million in the EU, the Roma are the oldest and largest European ethnic minority. Amnesty International reports that Roma people are "existing predominantly on the margins of society [and] are among the most deprived communities in Europe". Amnesty also states that the "Roma suffer massive discrimination and are denied their rights to housing, employment, health care and education. Roma communities are often subject to forced evictions, racist attacks and police ill-treatment." This project challenges many preconceived ideas about the Roma by displaying both their diversity and what is intrinsic to their cultures.
Photographers and lens-based artists on display include Cristiano Berti, Elisabeth Blanchet, Danica Dakic, Nigel Dickinson, Alfredo Jaar, Sitki Kosemen, Maria Papadimitriou, Alessandro Quaranta, William Ropp and Santiago Sierra. Also on show are rare prints by Josef Koudelka who has produced the most celebrated body of work on Roma life and culture in the history of photography. The exhibition will also premiere two newly commissioned pieces by the experimental film duo Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi.
25 May – 28 July 2012
Roma-Sinti-Kale-Manush
Rivington Place
London
