Seventh Roma culture festival in Dortmund

EventsNews

Getting to know the richness of Roma cultures, drawing attention to their living situation, and changing it – that is what “Djelem Djelem” is about from October 9th to 23rd. For the seventh time, the festival in Dortmund invites you to workshops and readings, films and forums, exhibitions, and music in several locations in the city – including the Dortmunder U, the Dietrich-Keuning-Haus, the Auslandsgesellschaft.de, and the “Evinger Schloss”.

“The situation of the Sinti and Roma, the largest persecuted minority in Europe, is currently extremely dramatic,” says Jörg Stüdemann, head of the cultural department. In some countries, the corona pandemic is used as an occasion for racist agitation, harassment, and further discrimination. “Djelem Djelem” wants to draw attention to this and change the living conditions for Roma in the city, but also celebrate the diversity of their culture, says Stüdemann.

“Djelem Djelem” is one of the largest Roma festivals in Germany. In 2017 the festival was the winner of the national competition “Active for Tolerance and Democracy”. The title “Djelem Djelem” refers to the international anthem of the Roma. All events at the festival are free.

The 2020 program

It starts on October 9th with a ” forum ” at Adam’s Corner at Westpark, Möllerstrasse. 3: In workshops, on a market of possibilities, and in hands-on activities, partners from Bulgaria, France, Austria, Romania, Italy, and Germany present the ideas and the status of inclusion projects in South-East Europe and Dortmund. The aim is to learn from one another and to exchange ideas.

On the same day at 7:00 p.m., the movie “Over Borders” can be seen in the cinema in the Dortmunder U, a film and theater project with Roma and non-Roma youth from Dortmund and Bucharest. Under professional guidance, the young people at the Playhood Theater from Bucharest and young people working in Dortmund tell stories about their life situation, future plans, life resistances, prejudices, dreams, and longings in short film sequences.

There will be “Women’s Empowerment” on Saturday, October 10th in the Dietrich-Keuning-Haus: In a workshop there, starting at 2:00 pm, Rom * nja activists will present their empowerment work and report on experiences, projects, progress, and Plans. The workshop is about exchange and networking with Dortmund’s Roma * nja for self-confident engagement, against sexism, racism and social power relations.

The writer Ruždija Russo Sejdović will read from his book “The Hermit” in Auslandsgesellschaft.de on Monday, October 12th, 7:00 pm. The reading takes place in the large hall on level 3.

“Antigypsyism and radicalization in the digital world” is the name of a workshop that will support the participants on October 13th in the Evinger Schloss to get to know the importance of social media for the organization of right-wing networks and to develop strategies for prevention and countermeasures.

The Stollenpark on Bergmannstrasse invites you to a musical evening with Bulgarian young people on October 14th, 7:00 p.m. On stage, young people can perform popular songs with and without instruments or present songs they have composed.

The discussion “Rom * nja in Europa” will take place exclusively online on October 14th, 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. In times of the corona pandemic, the living situation for many Rom * nja, who are exposed to systematic discrimination in many places anyway, has worsened. A lack of access to the health system and allegations of having brought the virus from abroad make them particularly vulnerable to the pandemic. In the online discussion, Rom * nja activists from Romania, Bulgaria and other countries will report on the situation in English.

photo: City of Dortmund / Katrin Pinetzki