Photos: Romania’s Roma take centuries of discrimination to the stage | Hindustan Times
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Photos: Romania’s Roma take centuries of discrimination to the stage

Updated On Jan 24, 2018 10:23 AM IST

Finding no voices representing the discrimation and concerns of the Roma people in Romania, a company founded by members of the minority is using theatre to highlight issues close to the community's experience of life.

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Inside the grey walls of an independent theatre in the Romanian city of Cluj, Roma actress Elena Duminica braided the hair of her colleague Mihaela Dragan ahead of a show during the “Roma Theatre is not Nomadic” tour. Meanwhile, the theatre tested lights for the play, “Gadjo Dildo”, a cabaret-like performance inspired by real stories about sexism and racism Roma women are often subject to in Romania. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 24, 2018 10:23 AM IST

Inside the grey walls of an independent theatre in the Romanian city of Cluj, Roma actress Elena Duminica braided the hair of her colleague Mihaela Dragan ahead of a show during the “Roma Theatre is not Nomadic” tour. Meanwhile, the theatre tested lights for the play, “Gadjo Dildo”, a cabaret-like performance inspired by real stories about sexism and racism Roma women are often subject to in Romania. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Roma flowers sellers wait to watch a play at the Jewish Theatre in Bucharest. The title plays on a 1997 film, “Gadjo Dilo”, meaning “Crazy Stranger” in Romani, the language of 2 million Roma, around a 10th of Romania’s population. It is the first play staged by the feminist Roma theatre company Giuvlipen, which Dragan co-founded in 2014, seeking alternatives to the way Roma people were represented in the arts. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 24, 2018 10:23 AM IST

Roma flowers sellers wait to watch a play at the Jewish Theatre in Bucharest. The title plays on a 1997 film, “Gadjo Dilo”, meaning “Crazy Stranger” in Romani, the language of 2 million Roma, around a 10th of Romania’s population. It is the first play staged by the feminist Roma theatre company Giuvlipen, which Dragan co-founded in 2014, seeking alternatives to the way Roma people were represented in the arts. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Mihaela Dragan (C), lays on a couch with her mother (R) and grandmother (L), during a family visit in Constanta. There was no word for feminism in Romani, so Dragan and her colleagues created one -- Giuvlipen. The troupe has staged performances inspired by real events that deal with discrimination, arranged under-age marriages, lack of access to education, mental illness and Roma LGBT issues. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 24, 2018 10:23 AM IST

Mihaela Dragan (C), lays on a couch with her mother (R) and grandmother (L), during a family visit in Constanta. There was no word for feminism in Romani, so Dragan and her colleagues created one -- Giuvlipen. The troupe has staged performances inspired by real events that deal with discrimination, arranged under-age marriages, lack of access to education, mental illness and Roma LGBT issues. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Young people attend a participatory play “Cristina’s Story”, addressing domestic violence, poverty, racism and the challenges of living in Western Europe. The Roma are Europe’s largest ethnic minority. Of an estimated 10-12 million, more than half live in the EU and continue to face prejudice and social exclusion dating back centuries in Romania, where they were kept as slaves by monasteries or local overlords until the 19th century. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 24, 2018 10:23 AM IST

Young people attend a participatory play “Cristina’s Story”, addressing domestic violence, poverty, racism and the challenges of living in Western Europe. The Roma are Europe’s largest ethnic minority. Of an estimated 10-12 million, more than half live in the EU and continue to face prejudice and social exclusion dating back centuries in Romania, where they were kept as slaves by monasteries or local overlords until the 19th century. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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(L to R) Narghita Dinu, Anca Nica, Mihaela Dragan and Cipi Dinu talk after a performance of Cristina’s story). In Romania, the World Bank estimates nine out of 10 Roma live in severe material deprivation, most of them children, lacking access to basic education and healthcare. Giuvlipen tells these stories, while trying to show Roma culture is “alive, contemporary, vanguardist, progressive,” said Dragan. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 24, 2018 10:23 AM IST

(L to R) Narghita Dinu, Anca Nica, Mihaela Dragan and Cipi Dinu talk after a performance of Cristina’s story). In Romania, the World Bank estimates nine out of 10 Roma live in severe material deprivation, most of them children, lacking access to basic education and healthcare. Giuvlipen tells these stories, while trying to show Roma culture is “alive, contemporary, vanguardist, progressive,” said Dragan. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Paul Dunca (R), Zita Moldovan (C) and Elena Duminica (L) wait backstage before their show "Gadjo Dildo" in Bucharest. Throughout the fall, Giuvlipen - based in capital Bucharest - toured the country under the headline “Roma Theatre is not Nomadic”, campaigning to open a state-funded Roma theatre. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 24, 2018 10:23 AM IST

Paul Dunca (R), Zita Moldovan (C) and Elena Duminica (L) wait backstage before their show "Gadjo Dildo" in Bucharest. Throughout the fall, Giuvlipen - based in capital Bucharest - toured the country under the headline “Roma Theatre is not Nomadic”, campaigning to open a state-funded Roma theatre. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Roma actors Zita Moldovan (R), Mihaela Dragan (C) and Elena Duminica (L) during a show of "Gadjo Dildo" in Bucharest. Romania funds theatres for its Jewish, Hungarian and German minorities. Giuvlipen has yet to make a formal request for funding, but have invited city hall officials to their shows. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 24, 2018 10:23 AM IST

Roma actors Zita Moldovan (R), Mihaela Dragan (C) and Elena Duminica (L) during a show of "Gadjo Dildo" in Bucharest. Romania funds theatres for its Jewish, Hungarian and German minorities. Giuvlipen has yet to make a formal request for funding, but have invited city hall officials to their shows. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Mihaela Dragan (L) and musician Elena Albu seen in a rehearsal for a poetry night in La Tiganci (At the Gypsies’) restaurant in Bucharest. “There is need for contemporary Roma culture, because people just know the sensational things they see on TV,” said Giuvlipen member and actress Zita Moldovan. “A Roma theatre could tell stories, it would be useful for both us and the Romanian population,” she said. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 24, 2018 10:23 AM IST

Mihaela Dragan (L) and musician Elena Albu seen in a rehearsal for a poetry night in La Tiganci (At the Gypsies’) restaurant in Bucharest. “There is need for contemporary Roma culture, because people just know the sensational things they see on TV,” said Giuvlipen member and actress Zita Moldovan. “A Roma theatre could tell stories, it would be useful for both us and the Romanian population,” she said. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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Dragan and friends catch-up after their performance in Cluj-Napoca.“We advocate for Roma artists to have a voice, because Roma art was pretty marginalised and never valued, always stereotyped. I think this is our role, to make Roma art mainstream and cool, so that people come to our shows and talk about them,” Dragan said. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Jan 24, 2018 10:23 AM IST

Dragan and friends catch-up after their performance in Cluj-Napoca.“We advocate for Roma artists to have a voice, because Roma art was pretty marginalised and never valued, always stereotyped. I think this is our role, to make Roma art mainstream and cool, so that people come to our shows and talk about them,” Dragan said. (Andreea Campeanu / REUTERS)

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