MEMOROBIA conference - Slavery in Moldavia and Wallachia: Silences, Memory, and Resistance

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 streamed via YouTube. Streams are further down on the page.

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 Moldavia 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, Ian Hancock, Luiza Medeleanu, Petre Petcut and Oana Rusu.

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.

Stream of day 1 - MF

Stream of book launch - Litteraturhuset

Stream of day 2 - HL-senteret

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE 24 November - Day 1

Location: MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society 

9.00 Welcome 

• Solvor 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 – Slavery, Legacies, Traumas

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

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

10.15 – 10.30 Coffee Break

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

Panelists:

• Maria Dumitru, PhD Candidate, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society
• Liliane Ene, PhD, researcher at the National Institute for Research and Development “Danube Delta” in Tulcea (Romania)
• Petre Petcut, PhD and Historian

Moderator: Solvor Lauritzen

11.45 – 12.45 Lunch

12.45 – 13.25 Keynote speech – 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

Moderator: Maria Bogdan, PhD, Managing Editor of Critical Romani Studies (CEU)

13.25  – 14.05 Panel discussion  – Reparations in Norway

Panelists:

• Solomia Karoli, Romas Menneskerettigheter - Roma Manushikane Cacimata, Norway
• Bjørn Erik Thon, The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud in Norway
• Lillan Støen, Taternes Landsforening (National Association of Travellers, Norway)

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

14.05 – 14.20 Coffee break

14.20  – 15.15 Panel discussion  – Reparations across geographies

• Mihai Neacsu, Director of the National Centre for Roma Culture, Romania
• Iulius Rostas, PhD, Visiting Professor at the National University of Political Studies and Administration (Romania) and ELTE Budapest.
• Fernando Ruiz Molina, Human Rights Lawyer and PhD Candidate at School of Law, Criminology and Government at the University of Plymouth

Moderator: Margareta Matache

17.00  – 18.30 Book Launch “The Permanence of Anti-Roma Racism. (Un)uttered Sentences” 

By Margareta Matache. The book offers a glimpse into how centuries-old racism against Roma people continues to affect their lives throughout Europe. Blending personal and family stories and archives with critical, historical, and social science analyses, the book examines how racism, harmful myths, and powerlessness have been passed down through generations since the Middle Ages. 

Respondents: 

• Guro Jabulisile Sibeko, Azanian-Norwegian teacher, author, spoken word artist and political activist.
• Dezso Mate, PhD, Research Fellow at the Interdisciplinary Centre for European Studies, Europa-Universität Flensburg, and Visiting Research Fellow at the Research Centre on Antigypsyism, Heidelberg University.

Location: Litteraturhuset 

19.00 Conference dinner

Performance by Salamanca Taikon Gonzalez, Art Director and co-founder of Arthem – Romska Teatern

Location: Romano kher
 

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE 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 - Contemporary Activism & Arts of Resistance 

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

Moderator: Solvor Lauritzen

10.00 – 10.15 Coffee break

10.15 – 11.00 Panel discussion - The Role of the Arts in Remembering the History of Roma Slavery  

Panelists:

• Emanuel Barica, Roma artist reflecting around the Roma people`s history and struggles, and challenging established narratives through art.
• Oana Rusu, actor and PhD candidate, University of Arts, Târgu Mureș, and Lucian Blaga University, Sibiu.
• Cecilia Salinas, PhD, Anthropologist and artist
• Salamanca Taikon Gonzales, Art Director and co-founder of Arthem – Romska Teatern

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

11.00 – 11.30 Launch of Exhibition curated by the MEMOROBIA research team and the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities.

Speakers: 

• Solvor Lauritzen
• Maria Dumitru, PhD Candidate, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society
• Emanuel Barica

11.30 – 12.15 Lunch

12.15 – 12.45 Launch of Critical Romani Studies Special Issue “Racialized Slavery in Moldavia and Wallachia: Legacies and Silences”

Moderator: Maria Bogdan, PhD, Managing Editor of Critical Romani Studies (CEU)

12.45 – 13.30 Panel discussion - Roma history and Education

Panelists:

• Petr Torak, Chief Executive Officer, Compas Charity UK
• Luiza Medeleanu, PhD candidate University of Bucharest
• Elise Christensen, Educator, 22 July Centre

Moderator: Solveig Moldrheim, PhD, Head of Education at the Rafto foundation for Human Rights.

13.30 – 13.45 Coffee break

13.45 – 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 

Moderator: Solvor Lauritzen