ONE DAY WE SHALL CELEBRATE AGAIN / RomaMoMA @documentafifteen

RomaMoMA is a long-term collaborative art project of OFF-Biennale Budapest and the European Roma Institute of Arts and Culture (ERIAC). Through various iterations manifested as exhibitions, events, and publications, and presented at sites across Europe, it has been imagining and prefiguring a transnational museum of Roma contemporary art.

In the framework of documenta fifteen, the group exhibition One Day We Shall Celebrate Again performs a paradoxical double task. On the one hand, in the room behind this wall, it sets out to show what has been invisible and tell what has been unheard in the global scenes of modern and contemporary art—tasks for a transnational museum of Roma art if one had ever been established sometime in the 20th century. On the other hand, it also attempts to deconstruct the very same institutional vision by not only dispersing recent works by five artists of Roma origin throughout the Fridericianum but also, presenting artistic positions that speak to the endless complexity of contemporary identity formations.

This exhibition is the result of a collaboration between Roma curators and artists and non-Roma curators. Inspired by the context of Fridskul, this exhibition’s presentation includes didactic and interactive elements; Daniel Baker’s Shadow Diagram invites visitors to share ideas, while his evocation of the ancient secret language of the patrins playfully reconnects all the artworks of the project. Ethel Brooks’ passionate statements go well beyond introducing the main themes of the exhibition: they are personal contributions in their own right, equal to the presented artworks.

documenta fifteen has been a challenging and fertile ground for this project that allows for adding specific stories of the Romani people to the many narratives brought together in the Fridskul; and that provides a unique opportunity to open up RomaMoMA in the near future for other, comparable experiences and artistic practices that make and unmake the current constructions of the nation state. We must come together, share what we have and work together for a world beyond oppressive borders and labels so that one day, we shall celebrate again…

Artists: Daniel BAKER, János BALÁZS, Robert GABRIS, Sead KAZANXHIU, Damian LE BAS, Małgorzata MIRGA-TAS, Omara (Mara OLÁH), Tamás PÉLI, Selma SELMAN, Ceija STOJKA

Co-curators: Daniel BAKER, Ethel BROOKS, Tímea JUNGHAUS, Miguel Ángel VARGAS

Curators: Hajnalka SOMOGYI, Eszter SZAKÁCS, Katalin SZÉKELY (OFF-Biennale Budapest)

Collaborating Institution: ERIAC (European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture)

Consultants: Eszter GYÖRGY, Angéla KÓCZÉ / CEU Romani Studies, Anna Lujza SZÁSZ, Teri SZÜCS

Contributor: East Europe Biennial Alliance

Graphic design by Virág BOGYÓ

Translations by Adele EISENSTEIN, Daniel HOLLÄNDER

Special thanks: Budapest History Museum; Horn Collection, Budapest; Jindřich Chalupecký Society, Prague; Kai Dikhas Foundation, Berlin; KuglerArt Gallery, Budapest; NÖF – National Heritage Protection and Development Non-profit Ltd., Budapest; Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam and

Fanni ANDRISTYÁK, Veronika BAJAI, Sara GREAVU, Ania JAKA, Tamás KASZÁS, Edit KŐSZEGI, Krisztián KRISTÓF, Robert KUSEK , András MÜLLNER, Moritz PANKOK, Andrea PÓCSIK, Enikő RÓKA, Katarina ŠEVIĆ, János SUGÁR, Krisztina SZIPŐCS, Péter SZUHAY, Wojciech SZYMAŃSKI, Joanna WARSZA, Miklós ZSÁMBOKI