Latest press coverage
"Also the Roma Pavilion must be mentioned for its clear artistic and political statement. ... This was no decoration for a pretentious, futile drama with a raised finger, but here an air of openness and tolerance could be breathed. A perfect connection to the general theme of the Biennale: illuminations."
– Gijs van Tuijl, de Volkskrant, Amsterdam
“And what to think of the Roma Pavilion, which found its home just outside of the Biennale terrain? ... It is perhaps the most powerful signal to the others that the national pavilions in the Giardini are the story of the past.”
– Sandra Smallenburg, NRC Handelsblad, Amsterdam
“During his reading Salman Rushdie, listed as one of the artists contributing to the Roma Pavilion, put it thus: art and artists are in principle stateless and as such are the avant-garde of the present.”
– Catrin Lorch, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich
Latest remarks
“Today discrimination, racism, and populism are on the rise again. ... Against this background it is most important that minorities raise their voice like the Sinti and Roma have at the Venice Biennale. For this I want to thank our artists and encourage them to never give up.”
– Romani Rose, Chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Heidelberg
“In the context of the Venice Biennale, the Roma Pavilion is a disruptive proposal. It tackles the paradox of a minority ethnic group lacking a nation, which lives within that sort of Leviathan that is the European Union.”
– Gerardo Mosquera, curator, Havana
“Particularly in turbulent times of anti-Romani actions across Europe, by giving recognition and a voice to Roma artists through their art, the project Call the Witness at the Venice Biennale 2011 is in keeping with the values of equality and dignity for all...”
– Magda Matache, Executive Director, Romani CRISS – Roma Centre for Social Interventions and Studies, Bucharest
Call the Witness is a project of the Roma Pavilion, which takes place as a Collateral Event in the framework of the 54th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2011. A makeshift exhibition evolving over the course of the Venice Biennale preview days through the flux of live “testimonies”— works of art, performances, talks, and conversations by and with artists, thinkers, and politicians—Call the Witness considers the situation of the Roma and Roma art as emblematic of a world filled with inequality and oppression today, and in solidarity with the largest minority in Europe speculates about another, hopeful future. Read More