Annemarie Bălă and Mihaela Drăgan talk Roma Futurism

Photographer Annemarie Bălă talks with Mihaela Drăgan: as a Roma, Queer voice in Romania, she encapsulates many identities & explores them creatively and uncompromisingly on stage.
The only Roma theatre company in Romania, Giuvlipen’s performances have a feminist agenda & bring to life the issues of early marriage, anti-gypsyism hate speech, hyper-sexualization, eviction, and heteronormativity in order to promote discussion and critical thinking. The work reimagines the Roma’s image as a community “blocked in the past”, presenting them as inventors of the ultra-advanced technology. As Roma have always been perceived to be the keepers of ancient knowledge, Roma Futurism imagines space and a utopian future, where a group of Roma women - witches and alchemists - control the technology and have the power of returning in the past to change oppressive historical events such as slavery or Samudaripen (the Roma Holocaust).
Produced for AWE's Resilience project, 2020.
Music by Lena Müller.