Gypsy artists are coming to town

Published Date: 29 May 2009

TOP gypsy artists are coming to Doncaster to mark the second national Gypsy Roma Traveller History month.

The Baro Ziro Big Time Festival will be running for a week in June as part of the Hothouse arts programme, and will taken place at three venues across the borough - including a traditional circus tent in Chequer Road's Arts Park.

The main marquee line-up will feature entertainment from world music chart-toppers, KAL, Czech Eurovision entry Gypsy CZ and the rarely seen traveller music legend Ambrose Coop and Family.

There will be tales of life on the road with the UK's leading traveller storyteller, Richard O'Neill, an evening of performance, tunes and stories directed by the internationally acclaimed theatre director Alan Lyddiard, and a special screening of Shane Meadows' iconic film King of the Gypsies.
The gallery at The Point, on South Parade, will play host to the creation of an installation by renowned British traveller artists Delaine and Damian Le Bas, and British Traveller photographer Patricia Knight will bring her exhibition to Cusworth Hall.

Baro Ziro runs from Saturday June 13 to Saturday June 20. Tickets are available from the Doncaster Civic Theatre box office on 01302 342349

Residents learn about Romany roots

10:14am Tuesday 2nd September 2008

RESIDENTS learned all about Romany Gypsy culture and history during a special event in Redditch.

As a follow-on to Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month, the Eternal Wheels event was held at Arrow Valley Park.

The day, funded by a grant from Worcestershire County Council, allowed people to view, learn and interact with members of Romani Roots, a voluntary organisation that supports Gypsy heritage.

There were stalls at the event, various sources of information, entertainment and food.

Roma protest loaded survey question on "gypsy crime"

By MTI

The head of the National Roma Council has protested against a survey published on Wednesday which had juxtaposed the words "gypsy" and "crime" in a question.

Orban Kolompar slammed Nezopont Institute's survey, which found that 91 percent of those asked said they thought "gypsy crime" was a real issue. Kolompar said that the term was unacceptable and that the question was an incitement of hatred against the Roma minority.

Agoston Samuel Mraz, who directed Nezopont's survey in question, told MTI that his institute had applied the phrase because it was used both in public discourse and in sociology.

He noted that 77 percent of respondents in the survey thought Roma people were more inclined to commit crimes than others. "Nezopont thinks that reducing such a high level of prejudice is an urgent public responsibility," he said.

The slogan "gypsy crime" was used with increased frequency by far-right groups after a driver, whose car hit a Roma girl but did not hurt her, was lynched by the girl's family members in October 2006.

Following the incident, public dignitaries, politicians, criminal experts and Roma officials joined in protest against using the derogatory term and against efforts to stigmatise the Roma community.

Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month celebrated in style in Lancaster

Members of the Traveller community from Lancaster have celebrated the first ever national Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month. The month was marked with an evening exhibition at Skerton Learning Centre organised by Lancashire County Council's Traveller Education Service and the Adult College.

(Media-Newswire.com) - Members of the Traveller community from Lancaster have celebrated the first ever national Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month.

The month was marked with an evening exhibition at Skerton Learning Centre organised by Lancashire County Council’s Traveller Education Service and the Adult College.

Britain’s 300,000 Gypsies, Roma and Travellers have lived, worked and travelled throughout Britain for over 500 years, yet are rarely mentioned in British history.

This year, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities across the country joined forces with central government backing to celebrate their rich history, culture and contribution to Britain’s past and future.

Displays of work produced by local Travellers included arts and crafts by the Traveller Family Learning Group during courses run by the Adult College, which had also held taster sessions for the Traveller community on family history, reminiscence work and digital photography.

Lancaster Traveller Youth Group, Lancashire Young People’s Service and The Dukes DT3 held a photography exhibition featuring images of today’s young Travellers.

NCBI Lancashire’s Welcome Stories Project worked with the Traveller Youth Group to record their stories and experiences of living in the district and displayed the booklet, CD and posters produced by the project.

One of the youngest participants was four-year-old Joseph Doran, who won first prize in the pre-school category of the GRTHM Poster Competition which was launched in the House of Lords in February.

There were thousands of entries so it was a real achievement that Joseph, from Kingsway Playgroup in Heysham, won a first prize and Lancaster Traveller Youth Group won a runner-up prize.

Joseph was unable to travel to the House of Lords to receive his £100 prize in June as his family were at the horse fair in Appleby, so he was presented with it at the evening by special guest the mayor of Lancaster, Keith Budden.

Eileen Mullervy, team leader for the Traveller Education Service, said: “Lancaster and Morecambe Travellers and friends certainly made the first ever Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month in 2008 a month to remember and I am sure it is an event to go on from strength to strength next year.”

Government accused of wasting money to fund school gypsy magazine

10 July 2008

The distribution of a magazine to schools to mark Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month (GRTHM) has come under fire.

Labour has been condemned for spending £70,000 of taxpayers' money on the publication, which claimed that a number of stars hailed from gypsy backgrounds.

Elvis Presley, Charlie Chaplin and Rita Hayworth were among those cited as having gypsy heritage.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools and Learners, Andrew Adonis MP, has been criticised for backing the initiative.

Critics have accused the magazine of perpetuating myths, while a campaigner against political correctness, Conservative MP Philip Davies, told the Express: 'This is a grotesque abuse of taxpayers' money. When families are struggling to pay their bills, for the government to fund this magazine which speaks garbage is just another kick in the teeth.'

In defence, the government stated that the funding for the magazine had been given to the travelling community to utilise.

Numbering over 12 million, Gypsies, Roma and Travellers make up the largest ethnic minority community in the European Union, with around 300,000 in the UK, according to the official website of the GRTHM.