Celebrating the art and activism of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people

So many of us are connected to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritages - whether by family, heritage or friends. Every June (since 2008) we celebrate Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month, giving us time to meet up, have fun, remember the past and look to the future. 

This year the theme for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month is “Weaving Journeys: A celebration of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller lives, histories and cultures”. Here at the University of Portsmouth, to contribute to this theme, we present some examples of art and activism by people from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritages. This creativity has not gone unnoticed in the art world: the Venice Biennale has had ‘Roma Pavilions’, and Documenta15, the influential art show in Kassel, Germany, housed its first group exhibition of what is termed ‘Roma art’ (including people from any associated ethnonym) entitled One Day We Shall Celebrate Again. 

Dr Annabel Tremlett, situated in the School of Health and Care Professions at the University of Portsmouth, has worked with a range of people from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritages for nearly two decades. A major part of her approach is to work with visual methods – Annabel uses photo-elicitation with local communities (asking participants to take photographs of their everyday lives and interviewing them on the basis of the pictures) and also engages with activists and artists. She has been consulted on various media projects that aim to educate journalists and those working with visual images and produced various guidelines. A small exhibition is available on the first floor of the University of Portsmouth library throughout the month of June showing a range of striking images to show how artists, activists and academics work to transform old, distorted, damaging images of ‘the Gypsy’.