Strengthening the Roma Voice

 

 

Roma culture contributed substantially to the Albanian national heritage. For the first time in Albanian history, this statement was officially made. With a speech, the President of Albania recently opened a permanent exhibition on Roma culture in The Albanian National Museum. 

 

Groups of Roma women from different towns and villages initiated the display of their culture in the Museum.This site is about the process of the negotiations, the effects of recognizing Roma culture, and the support of Roma Active Albania and Spolu in the frame of the Strengthening the Roma Voice programme

  

It all began with a rather conventional activity: women sewing clothes to show the traditional outings of their culture. The women then realised that the influence of their culture to Albanian society was not recognised by any formal institution or authority, whereas Roma have been living in Albania for centuries and as such contributed to the development of contemporary Albanian society.

 

Check the video with the story of Irena Selimaj, active in a women centre in Tirana.