NATIONAL GALLERY
SOFIA ARSENAL – MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
Month of Photography 2016
ROMA IN EUROPE
Exhibition of Åke Ericson
10 June – 17 July 2016
Opening: 10 June, Friday, 6 pm
Sofia Arsenal – Museum of Contemporary Art
2, Cherni vrah Blvd.
The Swedish photographer Åke Ericson participates in the Month of Photography 2016 with the collection ‘Roma in Europe’. The exhibition is presented with the support of the Swedish Arts Committee, the Church of Sweden and the Fritt Ord Foundation, Norway.
Åke Ericson describes his project as an endeavour to tell more than one story, to escape the stereotypes and common perception of Roma presence and culture. The photographer began his project in 2009 in the town of Břeclav, the Czech Republic, where he was confronted with the eviction of a Roma family from their homes. In subsequent years, the artist photographed Roma communities in France, Serbia, Kosovo, Romania, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Spain, and Switzerland. The project includes photographs documenting the everyday life of Roma in extremely discriminated and criminalised regions, as well as the members of these minorities living, working, educating themselves, or being integrated into European society as citizens equal in rights.
About his work, Åke Ericson says: ‘The Romani feel discriminated everywhere in Europe. They often live outside of society without human rights: social, political, cultural, and economic. While I was photographing in Europe, poor Romani from Romania and Bulgaria began begging on the streets of my hometown, Stockholm. I hope my images can help you understand why.’
Åke Ericson (b. 1962) has worked with a photographic camera almost all his life, documenting conflicts around the world, as well as his encounters with policemen, politicians, and refugees.
For further information:
www.sofiaarsenal-mca.org