Date: Monday 24th June 2013 (10.am – 5.00pm)

Venue: City Hall, Cardiff

Admission: to be allowed entry, attendees need to have their name on the delegate list.

The event builds upon a series of highly successful prior events that have strategically extended the advocacy base for the RCAC working with local authority education, health, housing, social services officers and members of the judiciary and police services (2009-2011). In the previous year (2102) the RCAC sought to ‘scale up’ its advocacy by engaging the Welsh National Assembly with a high-profile event that took place in the capital (Cardiff) and attracted the participation of the Leader of the Assembly, the Finance Minister and the AM leading the policy initiative for Gypsy, Roma, Travellers. The target last year was the WNA policy for national Gypsy and Traveller inclusion strategy, that lacked a Roma component, despite there being an increasingly large number of Czech and Slovak Roma in south Wales’ schools, accessing social services and employment support programmes. Practitioners’ demands for expert guidance on effective methods of working with these communities, in their settings, were addressed through four themed workshops: early years education; health; arts and culture; law.

The day also addresses, more directly than in many other instances, the need to engage with national governments in promoting Romani early years carer and education, as part of the national Gypsy, Roma, Traveller integration strategy, through bringing key persons from the Welsh Assembly to the event. This advances the key priority of influencing and impacting upon government policy. Strategic policy-makers and service managers will be invited, from regional and local authorities, in health, education, social and welfare services, employment and housing to advocate for better integration of policy, practise and delivery to the GRT communities across Wales.

A series of workshops led by Roma professionals and practitioners, for the afternoon of the event will engage with Welsh professionals and practitioners from the judiciary, law enforcement and custodial services, social work, early years education and care, arts and culture. These workshops advance the transfer of knowledge and the sharing of experiences between Romani and non-Romani professional communities. Finally, the project will result in a series of tangible, concrete outputs (a report with recommendations to the Welsh Assembly as an advocacy product, with a plan for the development of C-REYN and for the support of a RECI+ comparative study in Wales) that will further the grant making priorities of ECP.”

Please download the booking form here and submit by 31st May 2013.

National Symposium Booking Form

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Think you know what a Gypsy, Roma and Traveller are?

Wednesday 5th June 2013

St David’s Hall – 10.30 – 4pm

Challenge your opinions, indulge in the culture and share in the activities that demonstrate a rich cultural heritage within Wales.

Films, live performances, art, and exhibitions that showcase the cultural diversity of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community in Wales.

You will be astonished and engaged by the amazing skills, heritage, stories, history, art, theatre and dance that will be displayed throughout the day.

Whatever your background, ability, perception or age, come and join this ever growing annual event.

Children from across Wales will be displaying their contribution along in an engaging day of interactive activities and workshops that provide fun for all the family.

Organisers – The Romani Cultural & Arts Company look forward to seeing you there! Don’t miss out.

Email by sending a message directly below: [contact-form]

Date: 25th February 2013 9:30-12:30

Venue: Malpas Court, Newport

£55 per person

Introduction

Racism is widely recognised as anti-social, at least in most cases. However, there is plenty of evidence, in the everyday lives of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and in academic text, that racism against these people is still perceived as socially acceptable. The following quotes explain why and what affect this has:

Nearly 9 out of every 10 children and young people from a Gypsy background have suffered racial abuse and nearly two thirds have also been bullied or physically attacked…
This is who we are, – Children’s Society, 2007

Go to most museums, libraries and schools and nothing about their history and culture is kept or taught. The result is a widespread ignorance about who they are, which sometimes turns to hatred, fear and misunderstanding. In schools, children learn more about the Romans, Vikings or even fairies than they do about Gypsy, Roma and Traveller cultures and what they have contributed to this world. As a result they are misunderstood, feared and loathed…
GRTHM – www.grthm.co.uk

The two groups identified as the most threatening – asylum seekers and Travellers – were the only groups with whom most interviewees had had no contact…
Understanding Prejudice, Stonewall, 2004

Who should attend?

This course is suitable for anyone interested in ensuring that their services are inclusive and accessible for the Gypsy and Traveller community. It would be particularly useful for those who work in Planning, Housing, Equality, Health, Education and the Community.

Why should you attend?

It will assist you to:

§  Ensure effective engagement with the Gypsy and Traveller community

§  Be confident in your interactions with people from the Gypsy and Traveller community

§  Provide services that address the needs of people from the Gypsy and Traveller community

Aim

To increase awareness of the cultural diversity, issues and needs of Gypsy and Travellers in Wales.

Learning Objectives

By the end the session participants will have:

(a)  Increased your knowledge of the culture, traditions and history of the Gypsy and Traveller Community (this includes a timeline of key historical events and legislation)  

(b)  Developed an understanding of diversity within the Gypsy and Traveller community (that is, who are Gypsy Roma and Travellers?) 

(c)  Increased your awareness of the prejudice and discrimination faced by the Gypsy and Traveller community

(d)  Identified access and attitudinal issues and barriers, in education, health, employment, safety and public services

(e)  Improved your understanding of how to engage effectively with the Gypsy and Traveller community and what you can do to ensure inclusion

(f)   Developed an Action Plan that puts learning into practice

Workshop facilitator: Isaac Blake, Director of the Romani Cultural & Arts Company

Booking

An exhibition providing an insight into the Gypsy Roma Traveller community is being held in Barry to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.

The ‘Building Bridges‘ exhibition at Art Central gallery, Barry Town Hall, King Square, Barry, will run from Saturday 19 January to Saturday 23 February.

Isaac Blake, director of the Romani Cultural and Arts Company, said: “This a contemporary look at the history of the Romani Gypsy tradition and so helps to create an awareness of the background as well as the situation of the community today.

The gallery’s opening hours are 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Admission is free.

For more information contact arts development officer Tracey Harding on 01446 709805 or email TCHarding@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

Date: 22 June – 13 July 2013

Venue: The Riverfront, Bristol Packet Wharf, Newport NP20 1HG

Admission: FREE

Organisers – The Romani Cultural & Arts Company

The aim of the exhibition is to stimulate discussion and participation amongst the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller community, the wider community and the arts community, regarding the complex relationship between visual culture and our daily lives. The project also aims to question hierarchies of artistic practice by examining the role of visual arts within Romani culture. The debate regarding the influence of visual culture across regional, national and international boundaries is both timely and relevant considering the recent portrayal of Romani and Traveller communities through TV programs such as ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’, whose particular depiction of aspects of Romani and Traveller visual culture has led to controversy and claims of misrepresentation.

A focused period of studio research and practice will result in the production of a new body of artworks that examine the aesthetic power and wider influence of Romani visuality across the boundaries of culture and language. The final outcome will take the form of an installation of new works that examine the central role of décor and its importance as an expression culture, home and family life within Romani communities. The relationship between artistic practice and everyday life signalled by the Roma preoccupation with the ornamentation of functional objects highlights the interdependence between life and art within Romani culture. Visitors to the exhibition will be encouraged to bring images of objects and décor from their own home environment to be exhibited in an area of the exhibition space.

In the absence of a literary tradition the Roma have acquired a keen facility for aesthetic communication which has resulted in the development of an acute visual and sensory vocabulary. The aesthetic power, contained in Romani artefacts, décor, textiles and other ephemera of Romani daily life, has developed during the Roma’s historic evolution as a collective of diverse yet distinctively connected nomadic groups and continues to play an important role the lives of Gypsy, Roma, Traveller communities and their interactions with the wider world.

The Roma’s focus on visual rather than literary communication has resulted in an innate integration of artistic practice into everyday life. This becomes clearer when we consider that all the objects and artefacts accompanying a historically nomadic community were, and are, required to serve multiple purposes. The need to combine cultural knowledge and artistic nourishment with practicality, portability and expediency has meant that form and function have become intimately and symbolically connected for Roma. This connection continues to inform the world view of both travelling and settled Roma communities today.

This notion of interdependence between Romani life and art is not new. The Roma are considered to be the original Bohemians—admired for personifying non-conformist ideals and values and a creative approach to living that greatly influenced the artists and thinkers of the nineteenth century avant-garde. The Shine project calls for renewed recognition of the value of Roma’s contribution to wider cultural and social innovation—a reversal of the current status quo, to allow Romani culture to shine across contemporary social and cultural boundaries.

Follow this link for more information: Daniel Baker

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Please download the A5 flyer Shine & A5 Postcard Shine.

This project is supported by Arts Council of Wales and is commissioned by the Romani Cultural and Arts Company with the assistance of the Riverfront. 

Press coverage notably from (Diverse Cymru, Travelling Ahead, The Riverfront).

Every year the sleepy seaside town of Les Saints Maries de-la-Mer hosts the lavish Gypsy pilgrimage. An established film maker is looking for participants and supporters to help fund and complete a ‘documentary-in-the-making’ that examines this fascinating pilgrimage and accompanying mysteries.

Follow this link for more information: Gypsyland

A recent report for the Arts Council Of Wales entitled Beyond the Stereotypes:
A review of Gypsies/Roma/Travellers and the Arts in Wales acknowledged the impact of the work of the Romani Cultural & Arts Company and made a clear recommendation that organisations working for and within the Gypsy, Roma & Traveller communities should:

‘Team up with the Romani Cultural & Arts Company in addition to providing project funding.’ 

The report’s author stated that she:

‘has uncovered nothing but praise for Isaac Blake – his work is universally acknowledged by academics, Gypsies, Travellers, politicians, public bodies and international organisations. This is a unique Welsh-based company that should be supported in every possible way.’

Yvonne Cheal August 2012

‘Arts Council Of Wales has welcomed the report and is now considering the findings and recommendations.’

Please click here to download Beyond the Stereotypes

The Romani Cultural & Arts Company are once again co-ordinating the Gypsy, Roma & Traveller (GRT) History Month 2013. Wales is a beacon of excellence in the promotion of equality of opportunity for all and for inclusive practices across services. Join us in June 2013 for a celebration of this and more.

Throughout Wales, there will be a variety of events taking place to celebrate the rich culture and heritage of the Gypsy, Roma & Traveller communities. There will be exhibitions, performances, workshops accessible to all sectors of the community, with some key events taking place in the North & South Wales.

Your school has the opportunity to participate in a ‘Design a T-Shirt’ competition which is open to all Primary schools in Wales to publicise the Gala event on Wednesday 5^th June 2013, St David’s Hall in Cardiff. The competition is open to all children with two entry categories available: Key Stage 1 entries and Key Stage 2 entries. This is the perfect way to celebrate the big themes such as diversity and equality as well as an opportunity to explore an exciting history and culture. Be inclusive, be included, get involved!

All participating schools will receive a thank you letter and certificate of participation and winning t-shirt designs will be printed with prizes presented on Wednesday 5th June 2013, Cardiff by Keith Towler, Children’s Commissioner For Wales.

Download: 2013 T-Shirt Competition Lesson Powerpoint

Download: T-shirt Design Competition – Template.png

Press coverage notably from (Black Voluntary Sector Network Wales, Diverse Cymru, Travelling Ahead).

Tuesday 2 October 2012, 6.30pm

Venue: The Wiener Library, 29 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DP Admission: Free

Across Europe, Roma and Gypsies are suffering increasing intolerance and hostility. The social and economic shifts of the last thirty years, the resurgence of populist politics, and a noticeable increase in inter-ethnic violence and hate crimes has shaped the political debate regarding Roma. They have become a target population for ‘ordinary citizens’ who need an outlet on which to pin their fears and frustrations.

At this Hurst book launch, Editor Michael Stewart discusses how to reset the agenda for thinking about Europe’s largest minority, analysing not only the challenges a liberal, tolerant politics confronts but also suggesting ways of acting against the new xenophobia. The talk will be followed by questions from the audience.

Stewart is a social anthropologist who teaches at UCL and has published extensively on Romany populations in Eastern Europe in the past and present. He is the author of The Time of the Gypsies (1987), Co-Editor of ‘The Lilies of the Field: Marginal People Who Live for the Moment’ (1988) and of ‘Des Tsiganes en Europe’ (2010) as well as a number of articles on the Nazi treatment of the Roma & Sinti. He is also currently Artistic Director of UCL’s Open City Docs Fest.

The BBC Wales Charity Message for July 2012 was on behalf of Romani Arts. There was a broadcast in the week beginning Monday 23 July 2012 on BBC Radio Wales.

About the Charity

The Romani Cultural and Arts Company was established in 2009 by Isaac Blake (a Romany Gypsy himself). Isaac trained as a dancer at Laban in London and Martha Graham, New York. He is now a tutor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.

Working through the arts the company raises funds to take community development and educational projects onto Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites and into Gorjer communities (non-Gypsies) across Wales. Current priorities include supporting Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month each June in Wales and the educational projects for children and young people.

A grant from Children in Need enabled the company to provide drama, music and art workshops on six traveller sites across South East Wales to encourage children and young people to learn new skills and gain in confidence. The company also encourages the communities to take responsibility for the continuation of such projects in the future.

It is hoped such projects will create inspirational role models for the young people and, through story telling, relay their cultural history. The young people also have the chance to record their own stories in photographs and film and other formats more suitable to those less comfortable with the written form.

The Romani Cultural and Arts Company work to overcome the ignorance and mythology relating to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people living in Wales by hosting an annual symposium to discuss relevant issues. They also organise heritage exhibitions and hold an annual gala event to highlight the young people’s achievements.

Press coverage notably from (BBC)