Independent Theater Hungary presented a performance and conversation around Children of the Wind (Italy) as part of the Roma Theatre Retrospective 2020 livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 5 October 2020 at 9:30 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 17:30 BST (London, UTC +1) / 18:30 CEST (Budapest, UTC +2) / 19:30 EEST (Bucharest, UTC +3).
“I offered to shake hands but the boy stood up and was a head taller than me and looking scary! 'I don’t shake hands with Italians pieces of shit!' My answer: 'I’m Sicilian, not Italian!' This made some effect on him as I later understood that Roma people like Sicily, Naples and generally tend to have better relation with people from south of Italy.”
The circus artist, performer and teacher talks about his own life. His own identity is still uncertain as the presumably Roma origin of his grandmother was concealed by the family. At the age of 17, the protagonist, black sheep of the family, ran away and travelled all over Europe as a musician and circus artist. He worked with Antonioni. In 2000, he went to Norway where he learnt that Roma people were tortured in the country during the 20th century, as people thought that sterilisation and lobotomy are useful. After, the artist returned to Italy to work with Roma children. Almost nobody believed in these kids except from him, but he founded a band with the stateless youngsters living in segregated ghettos.
Written and performed by Sebastiano Spinella
About the Series
Although Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe, they still experience high level of racism and have to deal with many societal issues. Additionally, Roma are being represented in a very stereotypical way in the media and art world. The Roma theater has more than a century long past with active professional theater groups in many European countries, but unfortunately, they are still hardly known. The Roma Heroes Theater Festival initiated by the Independent Theater Hungary is the only international Roma theater encounter in the World, which have been organized in every year since 2017. Many of the artists and their work are featured in this current series.
Judit Ignácz mostly worked at NGOs in Roma related projects, organizing and facilitating trainings, seminars concerning the topic of racism, human rights and non-formal education. She finished her studies of Master of Public Administration of School of Public Policy at Central European University and became a French and Romani language teacher at the University of Pecs. She also has experience in media and communication. She is passionate about human rights and non-formal education.
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