CARGO—of Dust and Ashes

August 2 marks the 80th anniversary of the Roma Holocaust, a repressed trauma that has only recently resurfaced thanks to the intellectual and political efforts of Romani elites beginning in the 1960s. In memory of all 500,000 Roma and Sinti murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe, ERIAC presents the exhibition CARGO—of Dust and Ashes and invites to a collective reconstruction of history, through the lenses of the youngest generations of artists of Roma origin.

A melancholy embrace in the form of a backpack of hay and fading memories. A heavy suitcase filled with cement. Not of the dust of the road, but of broken pieces of the road itself. The path has become a burden; it is unbearable to carry on. Whose road is this, and who is able to continue on the way?

The question of collective memory and remembrance is crucial at this juncture, as we stand at a tipping point in the narration of the Roma Holocaust. On the one hand, increasingly the descendants of victims, third and fourth generations have begun to speak out, unveiling the cataclysmic memories of their ancestors and channelling them into an obligation to create. On the other hand, a dwindling number of survivors remains among us today, and as time moves on, we will gradually lose the last living witnesses of the Nazi genocide.

To commemorate European Holocaust Memorial Day for Roma and Sinti, these three artists, representing a range of Roma communities from across Europe, embark on a journey to uncover their own personal histories—of their ancestors, and of their broader communities. They explore the ways that trauma is transmitted through layers of generations, aiming to create spaces for our shared memory. By collectively reconstructing their past—a lieux de mémoire of this overwhelming and burdensome legacy—they cast light on a weight that is unseen, yet continues to exert its destructive presence upon the lives of Roma, Sinti, and Traveller communities across Europe.

This grouping of works of Charly Bechaimont (France), Anita Horváth (Hungary), and Lila Loisse (United Kingdom) emphasises the collective reconstruction of the past and the resulting generative creation of memory—cultural memory seen as a mode of actuality through which these young artists create their own self-image: a self-representation that is rooted in their personal histories, but filtered through the experience of the “New Rom”. This history is reconstructed “from dust and ashes”, hay and bread, fading images of grandparents, and even their own blood—reflecting the fragility of the ecosystem and reminding us of the importance of re-narrating the stories of our ancestors, while seeking possibilities for our own freedom.

Is it possible to walk the line without continuing to bear the burden of our “Cargo”?

Opening on July 31, 6pm CET
The opening event features a performance piece and installation by Charly Bechaimont, The Taste of Blood, during which the artist delves into a deeply personal yet universally resonant exploration of memory, identity, and historical silence. The performance is followed by a panel discussion with the artists, in conversation with independent curator Isabel Raabe, one of the initiators of RomArchive—Digital Archive of Sinti and Roma.