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Roma Pavilion closes, more then
20,000 visitors
Venice, November 16, 2007 –
Paradise Lost – The First Roma Pavilion at 52nd Venice
Biennale closed today with a closing ceremony attended by the Pavilion
organizers, partners and friends.
One of
the honorable guests at the closing was Luana Zanella, Deputy Mayor and
Cultural Commissioner of the City of Venice.
In her
closing speech, Luana Zanella emphasized that according to some old documents
found in the city of Venice, Roma people had been living in the city in peace
and mutual recognition since the 13th century.
Luana
Zanella expressed her appreciation and thanks to the Open Society Institute for
organizing the Roma Pavilion and on behalf of the City Council, she underlined
the importance of the exhibition.
Given
the political situation in Italy, Ms. Zanella's speech attracted media
attention; many TV stations and journalists came.
Another
honorable guest of the closing ceremony was Andras Biro, the founding member of
the Foundation for Self-Reliance (Autonomia Alapitvany) and of the European Roma
Rights Center, a longstanding Roma advocate.
Andras
Biro said that up until now, it was only the Roma music which was world famous.
The First Roma Pavilion, which he called a “cultural curtain raiser”, was the
proof that there is a significant contemporary Roma art representation, too. “The
work of the painters and sculptors shown here will from now on challenge this
stereotype” – added Biro.
Andras
Biro said that with the enlargement of the EU, a significant number of Roma
population became European and it is the task for the “old” Europe to recognize
and accept the new citizens of Europe.
Andras
Biro noted that the concept of collective responsibility emerged in the public
discourse in Italy lately, which is reminiscent of times of oppression and
injustice in human history.
“We
hope that this excessive wave of intolerance will soon be over and forgotten
when we will be back in two years, anew in the friendly environment of
inclusion and openness characteristic of this country, the alma mater of arts
and beauty” said Andras Biro, and expressed his belief that after losing the
old Paradise, Roma will be capable of identifying the new Paradise.
After
the speeches, a small concert was given by three talented Roma musicians who
received support through the Roma Music Initiative.
According
to the statistics, the Roma Pavilion had more than 150 visitors on a daily
basis thus it means that over the past 5 months, more then 20,000 people
visited the exhibition.
After the closing ceremony,
representatives of the City Council spoke privately about intentions for the
next Biennale that the City Council wants to initiate another Roma Pavilion and
would also initiate a Palestinian show.
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