sexualized, nameless objects of the Western male gaze in artistic representation. The consistent othering of Roma, which hinges on perceived difference, xenophobia, and fear, led to their ceaseless persecution. From laws in the Middle Ages that expelled Roma from English territory (“Egyptians Act” of 1530) to restrictions on their movement during the Hapsburg Empire to their enslavement in
“ Gypsy Fortune Teller ,” Caravaggio Romania and the Romani Holocaust, false notions of Roma as lawless criminals and thieves, as wayward and nomadic, inherently violent, overly sexual, primitive, and uncivilized, pervade majority society’s treatment of Roma. These stereotypes in some cases stem from behaviors that were in fact provoked by legal and societal conditions, as is the case of nomadism, which nonetheless remains a grossly overblown generalization. The Nazi and their allies murdered upwards of 1.5 million Roma people during World War II. Yet the Romani Holocaust is often treated secondarily in museums and academic work. Unlike many other survivors, the Roma Holocaust survivors of Romania have long been denied their rights. Many of them died before receiving restitution, reparations, or witnessing recognition of the Romani Holocaust. For decades after the war, the survivors were not recognized as victims of the Nazi persecution and received little or no compensation or restitution for their lost property. Struggle for recognition is ongoing as Roma continue to be left out of commemorations and lack respectful representation in museums and Holocaust curricula globally. State violence against Roma, enslavement, genocide, forced sterilization, mass incarceration, pogroms, and ongoing police brutality trace a throughline of anti-Roma racism across hundreds of years. The tendrils of white supremacy that underpin these assaults on Romani life extend even beyond Europe. Exoticizing portraits of Romani people, like those found in the The Hunchback of Notre Dame, trade in damaging stereotypes about Romani people. As Black feminist bell hooks states: “Stereotypes abound when there is distance. They are an invention, a pretense that one knows when the steps that would make real knowing possible cannot be taken or are not allowed.” But if we use these cultural productions as entry points to education about Romani history, we may succeed in repairing the fissures therefore making “real knowing possible” by amplifying Roma voices and histories – as the team has striven to do in this production. Thank you for doing your part by reading. – Ioanida Costache, Roma Cultural Consultant
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