RomArchive, the digital archive of Sinti and Roma, has been online since January 24, 2019 and finally makes the arts and culture of the Sinti and Roma and their contribution to the European cultural history visible. Through stories told by Sinti and Roma themselves, the RomArchive creates an internationally accessible and reliable source of knowledge online, that counters stereotypes and prejudices with facts.
Regarding content, 14 curators have determined the presentation and selected exemplary artistic contributions for the archive sections of visual arts, film, literature, music, dance, theater and drama and the interdisciplinary section of flamenco, as well as material on the politics of images, personal testimonies in the context of the persecution of Sinti and Roma during National Socialism and scholarly material concerning the civil rights movement. Including the various work teams, about 150 actors from 15 countries across Europe and beyond are involved in the project. They form a worldwide network of creative artists, scholars and activists who mainly belong to the minority and make the RomArchive currently the largest cultural project by, for and with Sinti and Roma, where the principle of ‘Romani leadership’ is consistently implemented.
The collection of the archive, designed to grow continuously, reflects the enormous spectrum and diversity of cultural identities and national characteristics in an exemplary manner, instead of conveying an unrealistic picture of a homogenous ʺRoma-cultureʺ. The richness of an artistic and cultural production that is centuries old and still extremely dynamic and diverse becomes publicly visible here for the first time on this scale.