Ceija Stojka, Lorely French, and Maria Walters Look at Internet

My academic interest in blogs on Romani culture has been spurred on by David J. Nemeth and Rena C. Gropper’s article entitled “A cyber-ethnographic foray into GR&T internet photo blogs,” which appeared in the June, 2008 edition of Romani Studies (Series 5, Volume 18, Number 1), pages 39-70. The authors explain the growing field of cyber-ethnography and its usefulness for studying Romani culture on-line. They visited over one hundred blogs by and about Gypsies, Romanies, and Travelers (GR&T) and, in their essay, they analyze their findings for content, style, and appearance. Their article includes excerpts from some of the blogging conversations. Themes that they investigate include identity, bragging, material culture, occupations and industries, territoriality, marriage, purity codes, education, religion, and language. Unfortunately, for someone looking for actual blogs to follow, the article is already out of date, for, as the authors state, many of the blogs they researched are no longer existent, and of those still remaining, most are password-protected and no longer accessible.

In an effort to find out what already exists out there for blogs on Romani culture, I surfed the internet for a while. I plugged in many search words into google, and the most successful one thus far seemed to be “Romani blogs.” When I wrote in “Gypsy blogs,” there were all kinds of hits, but most of them using the term “Gypsy” in a way that harked back to the stereotypical image of travelers and fortunetellers. One of the first blogs that surfaced was that of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s “Message on International Roma Day” on April 8, 2009. The entire speech is here to view as well as a transcription and then reactions in an accompanying blog.

An informative, current blog that caught my attention was that under the “Transitions Online” website, an organization based in Prague that deals with political and social issues facing countries in Eastern and Central Europe. On this website is a category on Roma with the address Rom Blogs This blog also had links to other sites such as “Typical Roma” and “Roman Cultural Program” (RCP) and “Arts and Culture Network Program.

In general, however, most of the blogs I have encountered thus far are related to politics and social concerns. The blog O Nevo Drom seems particularly active, posting, as its title claims, “Romani News, Views, Reviews, by Rom for Rom.” Most of the postings seem politically connected, and yet the most recent one is a call for submissions to “The International Contest of Romani Poetry in Memory of Papusza.”

There also seems to have been, at least for a while, a semi-active discussion on the wikipedia Project Romani People site. The Project has developed pages on wikipedia, including ones on Romani history and language. I have used as a reference the “List of Romani people,” although the accompanying discussion indicates that inclusions and exclusions to the list can be controversial topics.

The art exhibit “Live–Dance–Paint: Works by Romani Artist Ceija Stojka” is now on its way back to Vienna, Austria after being in the United States for a year. Thus, it seems appropriate to begin this blog with describing one of the most beautiful paintings in the exhibit and one of my favorites. I especially like this painting for the story behind it. The sunflower is one of Ceija Stojka’s favorite flowers because of the time that her father made a skirt out of five real sunflowers for her so that she could go to a Romani dance festival. Here is how she described how her father made the dress, as related to me and the three students who visited her in her apartment in Vienna in January, 2009: “He took a big one, a really big one, he hollowed it out, and all around he sewed a flower, with the leaves, and with the stripe, yes interesting. He also lifted my hair, and added a small one on the right and on the left. I was not even eight years old.” (”Er hat eine große genommen, eine ganz große, die hat er ausgehöhlt, und rundherum hat er so eine Blume raufgenäht, mit den Blättern, und mit den Stängeln, ja interessant. Meine Haare hat er auch hochgehoben, der hat links und rechts eine kleine hergegeben. Ich war keine acht Jahre alt.” )

There are a number of paintings that show the resourcefulness of Ceija Stojka’s family as they faced limited resources and obstacles from nature, as well as persecution and discrimination. Some of my other favorite paintings are those depicting the wagons that the Romani used to travel, including “Winterzeit/Wintertime,” where the cold, harsh winds propel the wagon forward into the snow. While the life of the Roma may seem romantically adventurous, such paintings demonstrate how this view may not always be realistic, especially in the face of uncontrollable natural conditions.

In this blog, I want to explore what exactly might be meant by “Romani art.” Are there special motifs that occur that depict shared Romani culture? Is there a certain aesthetic method that characterizes Romani art? Is there a potential danger in stereotyping if one talks about “Romani art” as a collective? Does one have to be Roma to write and make art effectively about the Roma? I would also like to make this an ongoing site of discovery as well. I am no expert in Romani art; I have only come to the topic through intense study of Ceija Stojka’s written and visual works. I welcome any constructive comments and suggestions.

I am also new to blogging, and thus welcome any ideas on making this blog fascinating and informative in the most effective manner.