Panel as part of the project “Open Up” on the Street Musicians Festival

DISCUSSIONS ABOUT ROMA CULTURE AND INCLUSION

The panel discussion “Openly about Romani Culture”, as part of this year’s Street Musicians Festival, will be held on Friday, 5^th September at 12pm in the Institute for Culture of Vojvodina (2 Vojvoda Putnik Street) in Novi Sad. Participants from Romani social and cultural organizations from Serbia, will discuss the topic as part of the project “Open Up”, which the Festival has realized in cooperation with the Fund For An Open Society from Budapest.

The overture to the musical program, which will take place on the Festival on Saturday, in the evening hours of 6^th September, is the “Open Up” project’s panel discussion, serving as a platform for debating on the topic of institutionalization of Romani culture, strategies for improving the position of Romani people, cultural and inclusive policies, and cooperation among different sectors of Romani associations, as well as the topics of contemporary Romani culture, public events, stereotypes and prejudice. Participants of the panel will be the assistant director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights Dragoljub Acković, project manager of the Fund For An Open Society from Budapest Nadir Redžepi, director of the Office for Roma Inclusion Duško Jovanović, director of the Romani Cultural Center and the frontman of the band Kal Dragan Ristić, deputy ombudsman for the protection of national minorities Eva Vukašinović, coordinator for the question of Roma for the city of Novi Sad Radmila Zaćirović and the Editor in Chief of the magazine “Lice ulice” (Face of the Street) Miloslav Marinović. The discussion will be divided into two special unites, while the moderator will be the expert associate within the Institute for Culture of Vojvodina Miroslav Keveždi.

The accompanying program of the panel will be the photography exhibition “Romani Caravan of Hope”, with the idea of minimizing ethnic distancing turned towards the Romani people, which is still present among most European countries, announced creator of the exhibition, Dragan Ristić. The panel will be musically enriched with a mini concert during the discussion break by the student of the Art Academy in Novi Sad, Aleksandra Aleksandrović..

Social engagement of the Street Musicians Festival will this year be represented through the special program “Open Up”, dedicated to contemporary art and culture of the Roma in Serbia. The joint project of the Festival and the Fund For An Open Society from Budapest, has as its goal to present to the audience the contemporary Roma culture in a creative and innovative way, pointing out universal values and encouraging intercultural dialogue and cooperation between Romani and all other artists. Performing as part of the musical program on the Street Musicians Festival will be bands Kal and Roma Sijam from Belgrade, Gipsy Groove from Priština and Gipsy Mafia from Zrenjanin, as well as Chisinau Youth Orchestra from Moldova and GRUBB foundation from Great Britain.