Art as a tool of daily life
2020
Interview
“(…) Visibility is a key issue for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities (Roma being the collective term in an international setting). Negative images of Roma persist based on historically prejudiced understandings of the group and the need for these to be countered with more alternative examples of Roma culture ,and varied accounts of Roma life continue to be an important tool in the path toward equality. The contemporary art platform is one of a number of contexts within which more genuine and meaningful images of Roma life can be disseminated and celebrated by Roma. It also allows access to a broader society in terms of educating people about the realities of the Roma experience and the value of Roma culture. The contemporary art world also serves to offer artists from Roma communities a path of professional development to further their careers and impact a wider contemporary discourse. (…)” D.B.
Daniel Baker
Daniel Baker is an artist, curator and art theorist living in London. Born in Kent, the Romani Gypsy received his doctorate in 2011 on Roma Aesthetics at London’s Royal College of Art with the dissertation Gypsy Visuality: Alfred Gell’s art nexus and its potential for artists. His works can be found in public and private collections, including the British Museum in London and the Tishman Speyer Collection in New York. His publications include We Roma: A Critical Reader in Contemporary Art in 2013 and Bohemia Revisited in the magazine The European in 2012. Exhibitions and projects: a.o. The Travellers, KUMU, Tallinn in 2017, Former West: Documents, Constellations, Prospects, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin in 2013, Call the Witness – 2nd Roma Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Venice in 2011.