On 24th October, the Romani Cultural & Arts Company (RCAC) and the Arts Council of Wales (ACW) organized a conference to mark the launch of a new report titled Sites of Inclusion: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Participation in the Arts Sector of Wales, which comprises new research conducted by the RCAC, commissioned by ACW.
This new study offers insight into the level of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller participation and inclusion within the Arts Sector of Wales with the aim of optimising opportunities for engagement with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller audiences, artists and arts professionals. This research also supports The Welsh Government’s goal to achieve an Anti-Racist Wales by 2030 through their Race Equality Action Plan.
The conference featured speakers and academics from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and follows in the footsteps of The Romani Cultural & Arts Company’s ground-breaking community engagement work to date. The Sites of Inclusion report expands the work of the Romani Cultural & Arts Company by finding new ways to engage Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities with the wider public in ongoing dialogue about the ways in which art continues to inform our lives today.
On the occasion of the conference, Rosa Cisneros from C-DARE Coventry University presented the work done in WEAVE for inclusion of Romani cultural heritage in Europeana, the Europeana digital library.
As side events of the conference, two Gypsy Maker 5 events were organized in association with g39 and Ballet Cymru. These comprise an evening of artists’ talks at g39 from 7 pm to 9 pm on the evening of October 24th, plus an afternoon of dance talks at Ballet Cymru on October 25th from 12.30 pm to 3pm. Both events featured artists from the RCAC’s 2022 Gypsy Maker 5 exhibition tour.
