Cigányok síkban
Gipsies in Flat Display. Gipsy Painting, Hungary 1969-2009

Summary/Abstract: This review discusses the volume (edited 2009) of the Hungarian Romano Kher (Gipsy House) institution. The volume contains 74 fine art works by gipsy artists. The book is a minority political act, because the editors did not situate the works in a cultural context, or did not establish hierarchy between the artists. The main properties are the ethnocentrism, tontinuity (representation of the past and the future), vivid colours. The most interesting motives are the representations in depth and in flat. When they illustrate the environment, the trees and the houses in depth, they represent the gipsy people in flat in the same time. According to the author, this is a metaphor which reflects their social status. We find distress and discomfort in all the pictures, but the gipsy artists make us believe that the sun is always shining.

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