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The Romani Yag Gypsy Festival is one of the only Romani (Gypsy) festivals that presents a whole range of activities illustrating the diverse culture of the Roma people worldwide through CONCERTS, SHOWS, CONFERENCES, ROUND TABLES, FILMS, EXHIBITIONS, MASTER CLASSES and more
To see all the pictures and read comments from the participants to past editions of the festival, visit our website.
Pictures from the 2007 ROMANI YAG FESTIVALMANY THANKS to all of Romani Yag's friends, artists, academics and activists, in Europe and the Americas, who all contribute to promoting Romani culture. Romani Yag thanks them for their constant support and faith in this organization!
Romani Yag, non-profit organization
Romani Yag is a non-profit organization, established in 2004, whose mission is to promote Romani («Gypsy») culture through artistic events, a multidisciplinary international festival, other educational and cultural exchanges, as well as to encourage friendly dialogue and creative co-operation between Roma and other communities.
For more information about our ROMANI YAG GYPSY FESTIVAL and our other events, past and present, as well as photos, please visit WWW.ROMANIYAG.COM
The Roma
Dispersed over five continents, the Roma, often known as “gypsiesâ€, “cyganyâ€, "gitan(o)s", “manush/manouche†or “romani(t)chelâ€, are in fact one people united by their common roots, identity, culture and language, R(r)omanès, with its many different dialects. The Roma have travelled the world since leaving their ancestral home of India about 1,000 years ago. Influenced by each culture whose path they have crossed, the Roma have, in turn, inspired those with whom they have come into contact, partly through their unflagging love of freedom and their music, often central to their existence. However, the Roma are not all musicians, nor are they mostly nomadic. After centuries of exile from different lands, persecution, and even extermination, the Roma heed no claim to any territory but rather seek legal recognition as a nation. In light of the Decade of Roma Inclusion in the European Union, sixty or so years after the liberation from WWII concentration camps, it is time for the Roma’s voices to be heard now more than ever.
For pictures from the 1st edition of the Romani Yag Gypsy Festival (Montreal, 2005) see:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44343546@N00/sets/
ROMANI YAG'S PRESENCE AT OTHER EVENTS
Dedication
Many heartfelt thanks to Petro and Slobodan Ivanovitch (Jovanovic), as well as Raya and Natasha Bielenberg: It is their music and dance, the late nights at their restaurant in Paris, playing with Aleco and Nikak, and the feeling of being home every time we entered “Chez les Tziganes Ivanovitch†to the sound of their voices, guitars and balalaikas that led to the birth of Romani Yag, 20 years later. Te aven bahtale!
THE BIRTH OF ROMANI YAG (friends and influences)
North East goes South and sometimes West (movie teaser) about the family to whom this festival is dedicated, including Natasha Bielenberg, Romani Artist and Activist (Romani Yag Advisory Board)
Please visit www.iagori.com
Gigo: Romani Artist and Activist (Romani Yag Advisory Board)
Please visit: www.rromanes.com
Vadim Kolpakov: Romani Artist and Activist (Romani Yag Advisory Board), here with his uncle Alexander 'Sasha' Kolpakov
Please visit: www.Barynya.com/Romen/Kolpakov.htm