MEMOROBIA sluttkonferanse - Slavery in Moldova and Wallachia: Silences, Memory, and Resistance

Dette arrangementet markerer avslutningen på forskningsprosjektet MEMOROBIA: Memorialisation of Romani enslavement in territories of contemporary Romania.

Programmet vil inneholde vitenskapelige presentasjoner om historien, ettervirkningene og minnet om institusjonalisert slaveri i de rumenske fyrstedømmene. I tillegg vil det utforske kunstens rolle i minnemarkering og motstand.

Arrangementet vil bli gjennomført i hybrid format for å legge til rette for dialog mellom deltakere som er fysisk til stede og de som deltar digitalt. Fysisk sted: MF vitenskapelig høyskole for teologi, religion og samfunn; Senter for studier av Holocaust og Livssynsminoriteter (HL-senteret) i Oslo, Norge. Digitalt via Zoom.

Detaljert konferanseprogram på engelsk ligger lenger ned. Det tas forbehold om endringer.

Konferanseprogrammet vil inkludere:

• Panelsamtaler som utforsker historien om romani-slaveri, reflekterer over arven, minnemarkering og tidligere og nåværende former for motstand.
• Lansering av spesialutgaven av Critical Romani Studies: «Racialized Slavery in Moldova and Wallachia: Legacies and Silences».
• Paneler og forestillinger om kunstens rolle i å huske historien om romani-slaveri.
• En utstilling om romani-slaveri, kuratert av MEMOROBIA-forskerteamet og Senter for studier av Holocaust og religiøse minoriteter.

Konferansen vil samle ledende stemmer innen historie, utdanning, minnekultur og kunst, inkludert bekreftede deltakere: Emanuel Barica, Adrian Nicu Furtuna, Ian Hancock, Luiza Medeleanu, Petre Petcut, Oana Rusu og Alexandru Zamfir.

Arrangementet er et samarbeid mellom MF vitenskapelig høyskole, Amare Rromentza, Roma Program for Health and Human Rights ved the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights ved Harvard University, og Senter for studier av Holocaust og Livssynsminoriteter (HL-senteret). Konferansen er en del av MEMOROBIA-prosjektet, finansiert av Norges forskningsråd.

This event will mark the conclusion of the research project MEMOROBIA: Memorialization of Romani Enslavement in the Territories of Contemporary Romania.

The agenda will include scientific presentations on the history, legacies, and memory of institutionalized slavery in the Romanian principalities. Additionally, it will explore the role of the arts in memorialization and resistance.

The event will be held in a hybrid format to facilitate dialogue between in-person and remote participants. In-person location: MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society; The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies (HL-center), Norway. Online on Zoom.

Detailed conference program can be found further down on the page. Changes to the program may occur.

The program of the conference will include:

• Panel discussions that explore the history of Roma slavery, reflect on its legacy, memorialization, and past and present forms of resistance.
• The launch of the Critical Romani Studies special issue “Racialized Slavery in Moldova and Wallachia: Legacies and Silences”
• Panels and performances about the role of the arts in remembering the history of Roma slavery.
• An exhibition about Roma slavery, curated by the MEMOROBIA research team and The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies.

The conference program will feature leading voices of the fields of history, education, memory, and arts, including the confirmed: Emanuel Barica, Adrian Nicu Furtuna, Ian Hancock, Luiza Medeleanu, Petre Petcut, Oana Rusu, and Alexandru Zamfir.

This event is jointly organized by MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society, Amare Rromentza, the Roma Program for Health and Human Rights at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, and the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies. The conference is organized under the framework of the MEMOROBIA project, funded by the Research Council of Norway.

Program 24 November - Day 1

Location: MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society 

9.00 Welcome 

• Solvor Mjøberg Lauritzen, Professor, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society
• Trine Anker, Professor and Prorector Research, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society
• Maria Dumitru, PhD Candidate, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

9.15 – 10.15 Keynote speech 1 – Slavery, Legacies, Traumas

Keynote speaker: Ian Hancock, Professor emeritus, University of Texas at Austin

Moderator: Maria Dumitru, PhD Candidate, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

10.15 – 10.30 Coffee Break

10.30 – 11.45 Panel 1 - The History of Roma Slavery and Forms of Resistance

Panelists:

• Maria Dumitru, PhD Candidate, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society
• Adrian Furtuna, Researcher, National Center for Roma Culture, Romania  - Romano Kher
• Petre Petcut, PhD, Historian

Moderator: Alma Dzafic Ferhatovic, MSc student in Sociology of Law, Lund University

11.45 – 12.45 Lunch

12.45 – 13.45 Keynote speech 2 – Reparations

Keynote speaker:  Mary Bassett, Director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights and FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights in the department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

13.45 – 14.00 Break

14.00  – 15.00 Panel 2 – Reparations

Panelists:

• Mihai Neacsu, Director of the National Centre for Roma Culture, Romania

Moderator: Margareta Matache, Lecturer on Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the co-founder and Director of the Roma program at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University

Program 25 November - Day 2

Location: The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies

9.00 – 9.15 Welcome

• Jan Heiret, Director at The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies
• Solvor Lauritzen, Professor, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

9.15 – 10.00 Keynote 3 - Contemporary Activism & Arts of Resistance 

Keynote speaker: Dr. Delia Grigore, Associate Professor, University of Bucharest

Moderator: Solvor Lauritzen

10.00 – 10.45 Panel 3 Roma history and Education 

Panelists:

• Alexandru Zamfir, PhD, University of Bucharest
• Luiza Medeleanu, PhD candidate University of Bucharest
• Elise Christensen, Educator, 22 July Centre

Moderator: Solvor Lauritzen

10.45 – 11.00 Coffee break

11.00 – 11.30 Launch of Critical Romani Studies Special Issue “Racialized Slavery in Moldova and Wallachia: Legacies and Silences”

Moderator: Maria Bogdan, PhD, Central European University 

11.30 – 12.00 Launch of Exhibition curated by the MEMOROBIA research team and the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities.

Speakers: 

• Solvor Lauritzen, Professor, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society
• Emanuel Barica, artist

12.00 – 13.00 Lunch

13.00 – 14.00 Panel 4- The Role of the Arts in Remembering the History of Roma Slavery

Panelists:

• Emanuel Barica, artist
• Oana Rusu, actor, PhD candidate, University of Buchares
• Cecilia Salinas, PhD, Anthropologist and artist 

Moderator: Alma Dzafic Ferhatovic, MSc student in Sociology of Law, Lund University

14.00 – 14.30 Documenting and remembering the Roma slavery – a conversation

Speakers: 

• Agnes Lakatos, Journalist, Radio Sweden
• Ian Hancock, Professor emeritus, University of Texas at Austin 

14.30 – 15.00 Screening: Letter of Forgiveness –  A film by Alina Serban