JelinekJurkova_9887644_Immersion in Othering: An exploration of the construction of representation of Romani culture at three European festivals - KHAMORO, Welcome in Tziganie and Yagori

Abstract

Music is a strong identity marker in cultural representation, and music festivals are an expression of this, engaging many people at once and bringing different communities together on a common ground. However, this can be detrimental to minorities if power relations are not taken into account. In my research, I acknowledge the position of every agent and their role in the festival (directors, programmers, performers, volunteers, visitors) in relation to the larger community they attempt to represent - Romani culture. From my analysis of three music festivals that focus on it - World Roma Festival Khamoro (Prague, Czechia), Welcome in Tziganie (Toulouse, France) and Gypsymusic Festival Yagori (Oslo, Norway) – using mixed research methods (Jepson and Clarke, 2016) based on critical discourse analysis and autoethnography (Lamond and Platt, 2016).

I explore how music festivals can develop a better relationship with their role, how they show themselves to their public, and how they treat the communities they are representing through their programming. Through participant-observation (Gobo, 2008) my personal experiences working with them and an assessment of their organisation. This is done according to six points which contribute to a final balance of its success and failures: its direction and power roles, the diversity in ethnic representation, the festival’s goals, its social purpose, the cultural motivations, and the evidence of culture.

I propose that postcolonial concepts of representation help festivals to become more aware of their power positions and their influence on the construction of a transnational notion of Romani culture, through immersion and inclusivity. By focusing on these two conditions, I suggest ways to contribute to the culture that do not create inequality, by applying Hall’s representation issues of othering, stereotyping, and identity imposing (Hall, 1997) in a reorientation (Young, 2003) of the festival’s goals towards a more responsible role.