Think far ahead, because the monument is already there

The persecution and extermination of the Roma* and Sinti* under National Socialism is virtually invisible in this city, in Europe. Memorial sites and monuments had to be fought for; some are falling into disrepair again. The Berlin memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe murdered under National Socialism is set to make way for an infrastructure project. In Dresden, on the grounds of the Festspielhaus Hellerau, stands one of the larger monuments in Germany commemorating the murder of the Sinti* and Roma*: the boxing ring “9841 – A Monument to Johann Rukeli Trollmann”, which was erected in 2012 on the grounds of the Festspielhaus by the artist collective BEWEGUNG NURR. Taking this monument as its starting point, HELLERAU presents architectures and practices of remembrance, as well as the struggles, forms, and aesthetics associated with them. What ideas, thoughts, policies, and forms of resistance are needed to remember the persecution and murder of Roma* and Sinti* in the present day? The event will be followed by a screening of the film “I am what I am.”

Discussion with Stefanie Busch (artist), Renáta Horváthová, and Kathrin Krahl from the Antiziganism/Antirromism Expert Network