Voice of Roma 2012 Events

• Bad Homburg: June 30 - July 1, LAG Tanz Hessen
• Dresden: July 3, website
• Berlin: July 7-8, website
• Vienna: dates tba, mail and website
• Munich: July 14-15, website

Exhibition and Program Schedule:

• March 15, Thursday, 6:00 pm Opening and reception, Romani/Balkan finger-food, drinks. painting by Tina Burbank
  
• March 17, Saturday - replacement for Carol Silverman visit
  
  
  • 3:00 pm NEW: "Erasing the phony 'Gypsy Show'" with Sani Rifati,
    a talk about Roma music, with music/video clips of real Roma culture

    "The talk will focus on Roma artists and their virtuosity, in an atmosphere of proper representation and respect. Nowadays, when it sometimes feels as if anybody can claim to be a 'Gypsy' musician' or 'Gypsy artist,' it is important to remember who the real Roma are. Unfortunately, even with all the attention given to 'Gypsy' influence, many very talented, high-caliber Roma musicians can barely make a living, let alone become known on the world stage and scene. What I see associated with the terms, 'Gypsy Caravan' and 'Gypsy Spirit', is often not anywhere close in musicianship or culture to the actual Roma. Furthermore, the audiences are never informed of the real history of the Roma and their ongoing struggles. These kinds of shows do a disservice to the culture, and end up only reinforcing stereotypes."
    

  • 5:00 pm NEW: Romani singing workshop led by Sani Rifati. $10-15 suggested donation.
    (No one turned away for lack of funds.)

  Sani Rifati is president of Voice of Roma.

  
  
• March 17, Saturday - Dr. Silverman's flight was cancelled because of the storm.
  Sani Rifati will present instead - see details above.
  
  

  • 3:00 pm Illustrated lecture and discussion, with Carol Silverman:
    "Gypsy Music in Global Circuits: the Erasure of Roma"

    In the last twenty years the popularity of "Gypsy" music has exploded, becoming a staple at world music festivals and dance clubs in the United States and Western Europe. At the same time, thousands of East European Roma have emigrated westward due to deteriorating living conditions, and entrenched stereotypes of thievery have arisen amidst deportations and harassment. In this heightened atmosphere of xenophobia, Roma, as Europe’s largest minority and its quintessential “other,” face the paradox that they are revered for their music yet reviled as people. As "Gypsy" music reaches larger audiences, Romani performers may be displaced by non-Romani DJs and musicians. Focusing on clubs and festivals, this presentation investigates the ramifications of the current scene for Romani performers and non-Romani musicians, producers, audiences and marketers.

    Carol Silverman, Prof. of Cultural Anthropology and Folklore at the University of Oregon, author of "Romani Routes: Cultural Politics and Balkan Music in Diaspora" (Oxford University Press, 2012).
    

  • 5:00 pm Romani singing workshop by Carol Silverman. $15 per person.
  
  
• March 24, Saturday, 3:00 pm Tour with artist Xylena Apotheloz
  "Once we were birds" by Xylena Apotheloz
  
• March 31, Saturday
  
  
  • 3:00 pm Professor Ian Hancock presentation, "The 'gypsy' image and the Romani reality"
    
    
  • 5:00 pm Dance workshop with Sani Rifati & Music performance with Benji & Sani Rifati, passing the oral tradition to the next generation.
    Suggested donation, $5-8.
  
  
  
• April 5, Thursday
  
  
  • 7:00 pm Concert with Stevens Family "Gypsy Boys" and Danny Fender - from Los Angeles, in honor of International Roma Day
    $15 general admission, $10 Museum members.
    photo by Raymond van Tassel
    
  
  
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  April 7, Saturday
  
  
  • 3:00 pm Presentation by Michaela Grobbel - "A Life in Pictures: the remarkable paintings by Romani artist Ceija Stojka," holocaust survivor of three concentration camps.
    
    I never would have imagined when I was in Auschwitz that my artwork would someday come to America. America has always been for me the main liberator of the concentration camps, and I am grateful and honoured for this opportunity to exhibit my work there.
    
    
    "Sunflowers" "The Beauties of Auschwitz"
    photos of paintings by John Sappington
    
    Click on sunflowers to visit the online Ceija Stojka gallery.
    
    
• April 14, Saturday 12:00 pm Mini-festival with Balkan brass band from Bay Area, Inspector Gadje. Voice of Roma & Petaluma Historical Museum present the grand finale of the month-long "Crossing the Borders" program. Learn how to dance to this music - traditional dances taught by Sani Rifati. Authentic Balkan Romani appetizers by former "Bistro E Europe" chef, Julia Pecak. An opportunity to view the current Roma exhibit and meet the exhibiting Romani artists, Xylena Apotheloz and Tina Burbank. Admission $10 - food included in price!
  Watch Inspector Gadje on YouTube: "Orhanov Cocek" and "Mesečina"