20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-001
![Martina Mitrovic (age 19, Serbia). I'll Stop the World and Melt With You, 2008. Photo credit: © Martina Mitrovic Group of teenage girls.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-001-910.jpg%3Fitok=YAWap-mg)
Martina Mitrovic (age 19, Serbia)
I'll Stop the World and Melt With You, 2008.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-002
![Akos Horvath (age 27, Hungary). A Place of My Childhood, 2007. Photo credit: © Akos Horvath Weight lifting seen through mirror.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-002-910.jpg%3Fitok=J_8WVFUR)
Akos Horvath (age 27, Hungary)
A Place of My Childhood, 2007.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-003
![Bojan Aleksic (age 26, Serbia). Roma Youth Band, 2006. Photo credit: © Bojan Aleksic Group of kids with instruments.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-003-910.jpg%3Fitok=F9ZdY3Nd)
Bojan Aleksic (age 26, Serbia)
Roma Youth Band, 2006.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-004
![Sandor Csudai (age 23, Hungary). Kids Playing, 2008. Photo credit: © Sandor Csudai Children, farmhouse, motorcycle/tractor.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-004-910.jpg%3Fitok=9Fl2H_oK)
Sandor Csudai (age 23, Hungary)
Kids Playing, 2008.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-005
![Akos Horvath (age 27, Hungary). Friends, 2007. Photo credit: © Akos Horvath Children viewed through tire.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-005-910.jpg%3Fitok=_PbCAElJ)
Akos Horvath (age 27, Hungary)
Friends, 2007.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-006
![Decebal Codruta (age 21, Romania). Diversified, 2007. Photo credit: © Decebal Codruta Shoes in color.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-006-910.jpg%3Fitok=hgKjE13Q)
Decebal Codruta (age 21, Romania)
Diversified, 2007.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-007
![Lucian Enasoni (age 26, Romania). The Red Cup, 2007. Photo credit: © Lucian Enasoni Woman in red looking at mirror](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-007-910.jpg%3Fitok=xOLTtB2M)
Lucian Enasoni (age 26, Romania)
The Red Cup, 2007.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-008
![Dimitar Apostolov (age 26, Macedonia). Good Morning Sun, 2008. Photo credit: © Dimitar Apostolov Boy standing on hands.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-008-910.jpg%3Fitok=pDrcAHYo)
Dimitar Apostolov (age 26, Macedonia)
Good Morning Sun, 2008.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-009
![Kummer János (age 27, Hungary). Roma Boys, 2008. Photo credit: © János Kummer Boys in front of fence with graffiti.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-009-910.jpg%3Fitok=DsppTnri)
Kummer János (age 27, Hungary)
Roma Boys, 2008.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-010
![Nikolina Obradovic (age 23, Montenegro). Posing Shirts, 2008. Photo credit: © Nikolina Obradovic Shirts hanging on laundry line.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-010-910.jpg%3Fitok=mjittEGh)
Nikolina Obradovic (age 23, Montenegro)
Posing Shirts, 2008.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-011
![Kása Árpád (age 25, Romania). Roma Boy with his Grandfather, 2007. Photo credit: © Árpád Kása Man and boy on a couch.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-011-910.jpg%3Fitok=7ZFrM_fe)
Kása Árpád (age 25, Romania)
Roma Boy with his Grandfather, 2007.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-012
![Krisztián Kondor (age 26, Hungary). Symbolic Frame, 2008. Photo credit: © Krisztián Kondor Woman viewed through picture frame.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-012-910.jpg%3Fitok=eyFpuR5a)
Krisztián Kondor (age 26, Hungary)
Symbolic Frame, 2008.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-013
![Boris Kocis (age 21, Serbia). Real Friend, 2007. Photo credit: © Boris Kocis Man on bench with pigeons.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-013-910.jpg%3Fitok=hC6rJvN3)
Boris Kocis (age 21, Serbia)
Real Friend, 2007.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-014
![Kummer János (age 27, Hungary). Ladies, 2007. Photo credit: © János Kummer Girl on steps in front of painted wall.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-014-910.jpg%3Fitok=GctZRnfi)
Kummer János (age 27, Hungary)
Ladies, 2007.
20100602-chachipe-mw17-collection-015
![Pavle Calasan (age 26, Montenegro). Konik Children II, 2008. Photo credit: © Pavle Calasan Girls, one with arms out, horse in the background.](../../sites/default/files/styles/mw_collection_910/public/photos/20100602-chachipe-mw17-015-910.jpg%3Fitok=CCI_mWr4)
Pavle Calasan (age 26, Montenegro)
Konik Children II, 2008.
The Open Society Foundations’ Roma Initiatives Office builds upon the foundation’s many years of support for Roma communities that seek to challenge prejudice and discrimination and to pursue policy change. Roma Initiatives guides all Open Society Foundations program and grantmaking activity related to the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015, a commitment by 12 European governments to improve the social and economic status of Roma. Roma Initiatives works to increase the ability of Roma to participate in public life, advocate for systemic policy change, challenge anti-Roma prejudice and negative stereotypes, and increase Roma participation in the Decade to make it an enduring success.
The Open Society Archives at Central European University is an archival laboratory that actively collects, preserves, and makes documents related to recent history and human rights accessible to the public. At the same time, the archives experiment with new ways to contextualize primary sources, developing innovative tools to explore, represent, or bridge traditional archival collections in a digital environment. The Open Society Archives integrates professional archival work with public programs and uses the Galeria Centralis as the focal point for exhibitions and other public events.
Chachipe Youth Photography Contest
In 2007, the Open Society Foundations’ Roma Initiatives Office and the Open Society Archives announced an international amateur photography contest under the auspices of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015, an international initiative that brings together governments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, and Roma civil society to accelerate progress toward improving the welfare of Roma and to review these efforts in a transparent and quantifiable way. The title of the photography contest was Chachipe (which means “truth” or “reality” in Romanes), and the aim was to break from prejudiced portrayals of Roma, and call attention to Roma as equal and active members of their society.
The following year, the organizers announced a follow-up to the Chachipe photography contest, this time titled Chachipe Youth. In this second competition, young people ranging from 12 to 25 years old were invited to submit photography on Roma daily life in one or more of the countries participating in the Decade of Roma Inclusion: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain. Youth were asked to contribute photography based on three themes: “My Street, My Neighborhood,” "My Colorful Life," and "What Is Wrong?"
The winning photographs, along with some 100 other photos selected from the contest submissions, were organized into an exhibition and online gallery. The photographs included in Moving Walls 17 represent a small selection of images from the larger exhibition.
As a whole, the photographs sensitively and artistically present the everyday lives of Roma in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe. They aspire to balance artistic values against stereotypical thinking, although the task of the curators was not easy as these two are often combined and reinforce each other. Since one of the overall goals of Chachipe Youth was to contribute to the Decade of Roma Inclusion by generating public discourse and raising public awareness, the exhibited photos do not attempt to manipulate reality and they do not hide the inevitable truth about Roma exclusion and the social injustice that Roma face.
The photos help give a portrait of Roma that is more nuanced, colorful, and complex than the usual Roma images found in the media and art world. The images help present the linguistically and culturally diverse communities of the 12 countries participating in the Decade of Roma Inclusion. By relying on the ubiquitous nature of digital photography and the accessibility of the Internet, the Chachipe Youth contest has engaged both Roma and non-Roma photographers in a broad, participatory process of breaking down negative stereotypes and strengthening Roma identity.
—Open Society Roma Initiatives Office, June 2010